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Book . I 1. 'i. 

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CDPMRIGHT DEPOSm 



FAMOUS WOMEN OF THE FRENCH COURT. 

By IMBERT DE SAINT-AMAND. 
Translated by Thomas Sergeant Perry. 



THE WIFE OF THE FIRST CONSUL. 

THE HAPPY DAYS OF THE EMPRESS MARIE LOUISE. 

MARIE ANTOINETTE AND THE END OF THE OLD 

REGIME. 
CITIZENESS BONAPARTE. 
MARIE LOUISE AND THE DECADENCE OF THE 

EMPIRE. 
THE COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 





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THE COURT 



OF 



THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE 



BY 



IMBERT DE SAINT-AMAND 



TRANSLATED BY 

THOMAS SERGEANT PERRY 



WITH PORTRAIT 



NOV 17 '^90.' LV 



NEW YORK 

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 

1890 



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COPYRIGHT, 1890, 
BY CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS. 



CONTENTS, 



CHAPTER ^^^^ 

I. The Beginning of the Empire 1 

II. The Journey to the Banks of the Rhine 20 

III. The Pope's Arrival at Fontainebleau 29 

IV. The Preparations for the Coronation 39 

V. The Coronation 49 

VI. The Distribution of Flags 67 

VII. The Festivities 76 

VIII. The Etiquette of the Imperial Palace 87 

IX. The Household of the Empress 102 

X. Napoleon's Gallantries HO 

XL The Pope at the Tuileries 115 

XII. The Journey in Italy 124 

XIII. The Coronation at Milan 135 

XIV. The Festivities at Genoa 147 

XV. During the Campaign of Austerlitz 153 

XVI. The Marriage of Prince Eugene 173 

XVII. Paris in the Beginning of 1806 194 

XVIII. The Marriage of the Prince of Baden 200 

V 



VI CONTUNTS. 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XIX. The New Queen of Holland 210 

XX. The Empress at Mayence 221 

XXI. The Keturn or the Empress to Paris 243 

XXII. The Death of the Youkg Napoleon 260 

XXIII. The End of the War 269 

XXIV. The Emperor's Return 279 

XXV. The Court at Fontainebleau 291 

XXVI. The End of the Year 1807. 307 



THE COURT 

OF 

THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE 



THE 

COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

I. 

THE BEGINNING OF THE EMPIRE. 

" rpWO-THIRDS of my life is passed, why should 
JL I so distress myself about what remains? The 
most brilliant fortune does not deserve all the trouble 
I take, the pettiness I detect in myself, or the humil- 
iations and shame I endure ; thirty years will destroy 
those giants of power which can be seen only by 
raising the head; we shall disappear, I who am so 
petty, and those whom I regard so eagerly, from 
whom I expected all my greatness. The most de- 
sirable of all blessings is repose, seclusion, a little 
spot we can call our own." When La Bruy^re ex- 
pressed himself so bitterly, when he spoke of the 
court " which satisfies no one," but " prevents one 
from being satisfied anywhere else," of the court, 
"that country where the joys are visible but false, 
and the sorrows hidden, but real," he had before him 
the brilliant Palace of Versailles, the unrivalled glory 
of the Sun King, a monarchy which thought itself 
immovable and eternal. What would he say in this 



2 COUBT OF THE EMPBESS JOSEPHINE. 

century when dynasties fall like autumn leaves, and 
it takes much less than thirty years to destroy the 
giants of power ; when the exile of to-day repeats to 
the exile of the morrow the motto of the churchyard : 
Ho die mihi, eras tihif What would this Christian 
philosopher say at a time when royal and imperial 
palaces have been like caravansaries through which 
sovereigns have passed like travellers, and when 
their brief resting-places have been consumed by the 
blaze of petroleum and are now but a heap of ashes ? 
The study of any court is sure to teach wisdom 
and indifference to human glories. In our France of 
the nineteenth century, fickle as it has been, incon- 
stant, fertile in revolutions, recantations, and changes 
of every sort, this lesson is more impressive than it 
has been at any period of our history. Never has 
Providence shown more clearly the nothingness of 
this world's grandeur and magnificence. Never has 
the saying of Ecclesiastes been more exactly verified : 
" Vanity of vanities ; all is vanity ! " We have 
before us the task of describing one of the most 
sumptuous courts that has ever existed, and of re- 
viewing splendors all the more brilliant for their 
brevity. To this court of Napoleon and Josephine, 
to this majestic court, resplendent with glory, wealth, 
and fame, may well be applied Corneille's lines : — 

" All your happiness 
Subject to instability 
In a moment falls to the ground, 
And as it has the brilliancy of glass 
It also has its fragility." 



THE BEGINNING OF THE EMPIRE. 3 

We shall evoke the memory of the dead to revive 
this vanished court, and we shall consult, one after 
another, the persons who were eye-witnesses of these 
short-lived wonders. A prefect of the palace, M. de 
Bausset, wrote : " When I recall the memorable 
times of which I have just given a faint idea, I feel, 
after so many years, as if I had been taking part in 
the gorgeous scenes of the Aj'ahlan Tales or of the 
Thousmid and One Nights. The magic picture of all 
those splendors and glories has disappeared, and with 
it all the prestige of ambition and power." One of 
the ladies of the palace of the Empress eJosephine, 
Madame de R^musat, has expressed the same thought : 
"I seem to be recalling a dream, but a dream re- 
sembling an Oriental tale, when I describe the lavish 
luxury of that period, the disputes for precedence, 
the claims of rank, the demands of every one." Yes, 
in all that there was something dreamlike, and the 
actors in that fairy spectacle which is called the 
Empire, that great show piece, with its scenery, now 
brilliant, now terrible, but ever changing, must have 
been even more astonished than the spectators. Aix- 
la-Chapelle and the court of Charlemagne, the castle 
of Fontainebleau and the Pope, Notre Dame and 
the coronation, the Champ de Mars and the distribu- 
tion of eagles, the Cathedral of Milan and the Iron 
Crown, Genoa the superb and its naval festival, 
Austerlitz and the three emperors, — what a setting ! 
what accessories ! what personages I The peal of 
organs, the intoning of priests, the applause of the 



4 COUBT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

multitude and of the soldiers, the groans of the 
dying, the trumpet call, the roll of the drum, ball 
music, military bands, the cannon's roar, were the 
joyful and mournful harmonies heard while the play 
went on. What we shall study amid this tumult 
and agitation is one woman. We have already 
studied her as the Viscountess of Beauharnais, as 
Citizeness Bonaparte, and as the wife of the First 
Consul. We shall now study her in her new part, 
that of Empress. 

Let us. go back to May 18, 1804, to the Palace of 
Saint Cloud. The Emperor had just been proclaimed 
by the Senate before the plebiscite which was to 
ratify the new state of things. The curtain has risen, 
the play begins, and no drama is fuller of contrasts, 
of incidents, of movement. The leading actor. Napo- 
leon, was already as familiar with his part as if he 
had played it since his childhood. Josephine is also 
at home in hers. As a woman of the world, she had 
learned, by practice in the drawing-room, to win even 
greater victories. For a fashionable beauty there is 
no great difference between an armchair and a throne. 
The minor actors are not so accustomed to their new 
position. Nothing is more amusing than the embar- 
rassment of the courtiers when they have to answer 
the Emperor's questions. They begin with a blunder ; 
then, in correcting themselves, they fall into still 
worse confusion ; ten times a minute was repeated, 
Sire, General, Your Majesty, Citizen, First Consul. 
Constant, the Emperor's valet de chambre, has given 



THE BEGINNING OF THE EMPIRE. 5 

US a description of this 18th of May, 1804, a day 
devoted to receptions, presentations, interviews, and 
congratulations : " Every one," he says, " was filled 
with joy in the Palace of Saint Cloud; every one 
imagined that he had risen a step, like General Bona- 
parte, who, from First Consul, had become a m_onarch. 
Men were embracing and complimenting one another ; 
confiding their share of hopes and plans for the future ; 
there was no official so humble that he was not fired 
with ambition." In a word, the ante-chamber, barring 
the difference of persons, presented an exact imitation 
of what was going on in the drawing-room. It seemed 
like a first performance which had long been eagerly 
expected, arousing the same eager excitement among 
the players and the public. The day which had 
started bright grew dark ; for a long time there were 
threatenings of a thunder-storm ; but none looked on 
this as an evil omen. All were inclined to cheery 
views. The courtiers displayed their zeal with all 
the ardor, the passion, the furia francese^ which is a 
national characteristic, and appears on the battle-field 
as well as in the ante-chamber. The French fight 
and flatter with equal enthusiasm. 

Amid all these manifestations of devotion and 
delight, the members of the Imperial family alone, 
who should have been the most satisfied, and cer- 
tainly the most astonished by their greatness, wore 
an anxious, almost a grieved look. They alone ap- 
peared discontented mth their master. Their pride 
knew no bounds ; their irritability was extreme. 



6 COUBT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

Nothing seemed good enough for them in the way of 
honors and privileges ; and when we recall their 
father's modest house at Ajaccio, it is hard to keep 
from smiling at the vanity of these new Princes of 
the blood. Of Napoleon's four brothers, two were ab- 
sent and on bad terms with him : Lucien, on account 
of his marriage with Madame Jouberton ; Jerome, on 
account of his marriage with Miss Paterson. His 
mother, Madame Letitia Bonaparte, an able woman, 
who combined great courage with uncommon good 
sense, had not lost her head over the wonderful good 
fortune of the modern Csesar. Having a presenti- 
ment that all this could not last, she economized 
from motives of prudence, not of avarice. While 
the courtiers were celebrating the Emperor's new 
triumphs, she lingered in Rome with her son Lucien, 
whom she had followed in his voluntary exile, having 
pronounced in his favor in his quarrel with Napoleon. 
As for Joseph and Louis, who, with their wives, had 
been raised to the dignity of Grand Elector and Con- 
stable, respectively, one might think that they were 
overburdened with wealth and honors, and would be 
perfectly satisfied. But not at all ! They were indig- 
nant that they were not personally mentioned in the 
plebiscite, by which their posterity was appointed to 
succeed to the French crown. This plebiscite ran thus : 
" The French people desire the inheritance of the Im- 
perial dignity in the direct, natural, or adoptive line 
of descent from Napoleon Bonaparte, and in the 
direct, natural, legitimate line of descent from Joseph 



THE BEGINNING OF THE EMPIRE. 7 

Bonaparte and from Louis Bonaparte, as is determined 
by the organic senatus-consultum of the twenty-eighth 
Flordal, year XII." For the Emperor's family, these 
stipulations were the cause of incessant squabbles and 
recriminations. Lucien and Jerome regarded their 
exclusion as an act of injustice. Joseph and Louis 
asked indignantly why their descendants were men- 
tioned when they themselves were excluded. They 
were very jealous of Josephine, and of her son, Eugene 
de Beauharnais, and much annoyed by the Emperor's 
reservation of the right of adoption, which threatened 
them and held out hopes for Eugene. Louis Bona- 
parte, indignant with the slanderous story, according 
to which his wife, Hortense, had been Napoleon's mis- 
tress, treated her ill, and conceived a dislike for liis 
own son, who was reported to be that of the Emperor. 
As for Elisa Bacciochi, Caroline Murat, and Pauline 
Borghese, they could not endure the mortification of 
being placed below the Empress, their sister-in-law, 
and the thought that they had not yet been given 
the title of Princesses of the blood, which had been 
granted to the wife of Joseph and the wife of Louis, 
filled them with actual despair. 

Madame de Rdmusat, who was present at the first 
Imperial dinner at St. Cloud, May 18, 1804, describes 
this curious repast. General Duroc, Grand Marshal 
of the Palace, told all the guests in succession of the 
titles of Prince and Princess to be given to Joseph 
and Louis, and their wives, but not to the Emperor's 
sisters, or to their husbands. This fatal news pros- 



8 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

trated Elisa, Caroline, and Pauline. When they 
sat down at table, Napoleon was good-humored and 
merry, possibly at heart enjoying the slight con- 
straint that this novel formality enforced upon his 
guests. Madame Murat, when she heard the Emperor 
saying frequently Princess Louis, could not hide her 
mortification or her tears. Every one was embar- 
rassed, while Napoleon smiled maliciously. 

The next day the Emperor went to Paris to hold 
a grand reception at the Tuileries, for he was not a 
man to postpone the enjoyment of the splendor 
Avhich his satisfied ambition could draw from his new 
title. In this palace, where had ruled the Com- 
mittee of Public Safety, where the Convention had 
sat, whence Robespierre had departed in triumph to 
preside over the festival in honor of the Supreme 
Being, nothing was heard but the titles of Emperor, 
Empress, My Lord, Prince, Princess, Imperial High- 
ness, Most Serene Highness It Avas asserted that 
Bonaparte had cut up the red caps to make the rib- 
bons of the Legions of Honor. The most fanatical 
Revolutionists had become conservative as soon as 
they had anything to preserve. The Empire was but 
a few hours old, and already the new-born court was 
alive with the same rivalries, jealousies, and vanities 
that fill the courts of the oldest monarchies. It was 
like Versailles, in the reign of Louis XIV., in the 
Gallery of Mirrors, or in the drawing-room of the 
Q5il de Bceuf. It would have taken a Dangeau to 
record, hour by hour, the minute, points of etiquette. 



THE BEGINNING OF THE EMPIRE. 9 

The Emperor walked, spoke, thought, acted, like a 
monarch of an old Ime. To nothing does a man so 
readily adapt himself as to power. One who has 
been invested with the highest rank is sure to imagine 
himself eternal ; to think that he has always held it 
and will always keep it. Indeed, how is it possible 
to escape intoxication hj the fumes of ^^erpetual 
incense ? How can a man tell the truth to himself 
when there is no one about him courageous enough 
to tell it to him ? When the press is muzzled, and 
public power rests only on general approval, when 
there is no slave even to remind the triumphant hero, 
as in the ancient ovations, that he is only a man, how 
is it possible to avoid being infatuated b}^ one's 
greatness and not to imagine one's self the absolute 
master of one's destiny ? The new Caesar met with 
no resistance. He was to publish scornfully in the 
Moniteur the protest of Louis XVIII. against his 
accession. He was to be adored both by fierce Revo- 
lutionists and by great lords, by regicides and by 
Royalists and ecclesiastics. It seemed as if with him 
everything began, or rather started anew. " The old 
world was submerged," says Chateaubriand ; " Avhen 
the flood of anarchy withdrew. Napoleon appeared at 
the beginning of a new world, like those giants de- 
scribed by profane and sacred history at the begin- 
ning of society, appearing on earth after the Deluge." 
The former general of the Revolution enjoyed his 
situation as absolute sovereign. He studied the laws 
of etiquette as closely as he studied the condition of 



10 COURT OF THE EMPBESS JOSEPHINE. 

his troops. He saw that the men of the old regime 
were more conversant in the art of flattery, more 
eager, than the new men. As Madame de Stael 
says : " Whenever a gentleman of the old court re- 
called the ancient etiquette, suggested an additional 
bow, a certain way at knocking at the door of an 
ante-chamber, a more ceremonious method of present- 
ing a despatch, of folding a letter, of concluding it 
with this or that formula, he was greeted as if he 
had helped on the happiness of the human race." 
Napoleon attached, or pretended to attach, great 
importance to the thousand nothings which make up 
the empty life of courts. He established in the 
palace the same discipline as in the camps. Every- 
thing became a matter of rule. Courtiers studied 
formalities as officers studied the art of war. Regu- 
lations were as closely observed in the drawing-rooms 
as in the tents. At the end of a few months Napo- 
leon was to have the most brilliant, the most rigid 
court of Europe. At times the whirl of vanities that 
surrounded him filled with impatience the great cen- 
tral sun, without whom his satellites would have been 
nothing. At other times, however, his pride was 
gratified by the thought that it was his will, his 
fancy, which evoked from nothing all the grandees 
of the earth. He was not pained at seeing such 
eagerness in behalf of trifles that he had invented. 
He liked to fill his courtiers with raptures or with 
despair, by a smile or a frown. He thought his 
sisters' ambition childish, but it amused him ; and if 



THE BEGINNING OF THE EMPIRE. 11 



they had to cry a little at first, he finally granted 
them what they wanted. 

May 19, after the family dinner, Madame Murat 
was more and more distressed at not being a Prin- 
cess, when she was a Bonaparte by birth, while Mad- 
ame Joseph and Madame Louis, one of whom was 
a Clary, the other a Beauharnais, bore that title, and 
burst out into complaints and reproaches. '' Why," 
she asked of her all-powerful brother, " why condemn 
me and my sisters to obscurity, to contempt, while 
covering strangers with honors and dignities?" At 
first these words annoyed Napoleon. " In fact," he 
exclaimed, "judging from your pretensions, one would 
suppose that we inherited the crowai from the late 
King our father." At the end of the intervieAv, Mad- 
ame Murat, not satisfied with crying, fainted away. 
Napoleon softened at once, and a few days later there 
appeared a notification in the Moniteur that hence- 
forth the Emperor's sisters should be called Prin- 
cesses and Imperial Highnesses. 

The Empress's Maid of Honor was Madame de La 
Rochefoucauld; her Lady of the Bedchamber was 
Madame de Lavalette. Her Ladies of the Palace, 
whose number was soon raised to twelve, and later 
still more augmented, were at first only four : Mad- 
ame de Talhouet, Madame de Lugay, Madame de 
Lauriston, and Madame de Remusat. These ladies, 
too, aroused the hottest jealousies, and soon they 
gave rise to a sort of parody of the questions of 
vanity that agitated the Emperor's family. The 



12 COURT OF THE EMPBESS JOSEPHINE. 

women who were admitted to the Empress's intimacy 
could never console themselves for the privileges 
accorded to the Ladies of the Palace. 

In essentials all courts are alike. On a greater or 
smaller scale they are rank with the same pettinesses, 
the same chattering gossip, the same trivial squabbles 
as the porter's lodge, ante-chambers, and servants' 
quarters. If we examine these things from the 
standpoint of a philosopher, we shall find but little 
difference between a steward and a chamberlain, 
between a chambermaid and a lady of the palace. 
We may go further and say that as soon as they 
have places and money at their disposal, republicans 
have courtesies, as much as monarchs, and every- 
where and always there are to be found people ready 
to bow low if there is anything on the ground that 
they can pick up. Revolutions alter the forms of 
government, but not the human heart; afterwards, 
as before, there exist the same pretensions, the same 
prejudices, the same flatteries. The incense may be 
burned before a tribune, a dictator, or a Csesar, there 
are always the same flattering genuflections, the same 
cringing. 

The new Empire began most brilliantly, but there 
was no lack of morose criticism. The Faubourg 
Saint Germain was for the most part hostile and 
scornful. It looked upon the high dignitaries of the 
Empire and on the Emperor himself as upstarts, and 
all the men of the old regime who went over to him 
they branded as renegades. The title of "Citizen" 



THE BEGINNING OF THE EMPIRE. 13 

was suppressed and that of '' Monsieur " restored, 
after having* been abandoned in conversation and 
writing for twelve years. Miot de M^lito tells us in 
his Memoirs that at first public opinion was opposed 
to this change ; even those who at the beginning had 
shown the greatest repugnance to being addressed as 
Citizen, disliked conferring the title of INIonsieur 
upon Revolutionists and the rabble, and they pre- 
tended to address as Citizen those whom they saw 
fit to include in this class. Many turned the new 
state of affairs to ridicule. The Parisians, always 
of a malicious humor, made perpetual puns and 
epigrams in abundance. 

The Faubourg Saint Germain, in spite of a few 
adhesions from personal motives, preserved an ironical 
attitude. General de S^gur, then a captain under 
the orders of the Grand Marshal of the Palace, 
observed that in 1804, with the exception of several 
obscure nobles, either poor or ruined, and others 
already attached to Napoleon's civil and military 
fortuiie, many negotiations and various temptations 
Avere required to persuade well-known persons to 
appear at the court as it was at first constituted. He 
goes on : " As a spectator and confidant of the means 
employed, I witnessed in those early daj^s mau}^ 
refusals, and some I had to announce myself. I even 
heard many bitter complaints on this subject. I 
remember that in reply I mentioned to the Empress 
my own case, and told her what it had cost me to 
enlist under the tricolor, and then to enter the First 



14 COUBT OF Tim EMPnESS JOSEPHINE. 

Consul's military household. The Emj)ress under- 
stood me so well that she made to me a similar 
confidence, confessing her own struggles, her almost 
invincible re]3ugnance, at the end of 1795, in spite of 
her feeling for Bonaparte, before she could make up 
her mind to marry the man whom at that time she 
lierself used to call General Vendemiaire." 

Although Josephine had become Empress, she 
remained a Legitimist, and saw clearly the weak 
points in the Empire. At the Tuileries, in the 
chamber of Marie Antoinette, she felt out of place ; 
she was surprised to have for Lady of Honor a 
duchess of an old family, and her sole ambition was 
to be pardoned by the Royalists for her elevation to 
the highest rank. Napoleon, too, was much con- 
cerned about the Bourbons, in whom he foresaw his 
successors. '' One of his keenest regrets," wrote 
Prince Metternich, ''was his inability to invoke 
legitimacy as the foundation of his power. Few men 
have felt more deeply than he the precariousness and 
fragility of power when it lacks this foundation, its 
susceptibility to attack." 

After recalling the Emperor's attempt to induce 
Louis XVIII. to abandon his claims to the throne, 
Prince Metternich goes on : " In speaking to me of 
this matter. Napoleon said : ' His reply was noble, 
full of noble traditions. In those Legitimists there 
is something outside of mere intellectual force.' " The 
Emperor, who, at the beginning of his career, dis- 
played such intense Republican enthusiasm, was by 



THE BEGINNING OF THE EMPIBE. 15 

nature essentially a lover of authority and of tlie mon- 
archy. He Avould have liked to be a sovereign of the 
old stamp. His pleasure in sui^rounding himself with 
members of the old aristocracy attests the aristocratic 
instincts of the so-called crowned apostle of democ- 
racy. The few Republicans who remained faithful 
to the i^rinciples were indignant with these tenden- 
cies ; it was with grief that they saw the reappearance 
of the throne ; and thus, from different motives the 
unreconciled Jacobins and the men of Coblentz who 
had not joined the court, showed the same feeling of 
bitterness and of hostility to the Empire. 

The trial of General Moreau made clear the germs 
of opposition which existed in a latent condition. It 
is difficult to form an idea of the enormous throng 
that blocked all the approaches to the Palace of Jus- 
tice the day the trial opened, and continued to crowd 
them during the twelve days that the trial lasted, 
which was as interesting to Royalists as to Republi- 
cans. The most fashionable people of Paris made a 
point of being present. Sentence was pronounced 
June 10. Georges Cadoudal and nineteen of the 
accused, among whom w^ere M. Armand de Polignac, 
and M. de Riviere, were condemned to death. 

To the Emperor's great surprise, Moreau was sen- 
tenced to only two years of prison. This penalty 
was remitted, and he was allowed to betake himself 
to the United States. To facilitate his establishing 
himself there, the Emperor bought his house in the 
rue d'Anjou Saint Honore, paying for it eight hun- 



16 COUBT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

dred thousand francs, much more than it was worth, 
and then he gave it to Bernadotte, who did not scru- 
ple to accept it. The sum was paid to Moreau out 
of the secret fund of the police before he left for 
Cadiz. Josephine's urgent solicitations saved the 
life of the Duke Armand de Polignac, whose death- 
sentence was commuted to four years' imprisonment 
before being transported. Madame Murat secured a 
modification of the sentence of the Marquis de Riviere ; 
and these two acts of leniency, to which great public- 
ity was given, were of great service in diminishing 
the irritation of the Ro^^alists. After Moreau's trial, 
the opposition, having become discouraged, and con- 
scious of its weakness, laid down its arms, at least 
for a time. Napoleon was everywhere master. 

The Republic was forgotten. Its name still ap- 
peared on the coins : " French Republic, Napoleon, 
Emperor " ; but it survived as a mere ghost. Never- 
theless, the Emperor was anxious to celebrate in 1804 
the Republican festival of July 14 ; but the object of 
this festival was so modified that it would have been 
hard to see in it the anniversary of the taking of the 
Bastille and of the first federation. In the celebra- 
tion, not a single word was said about these two 
events. The official eulogy of the Revolution was 
replaced by a formal distribution of crosses of the 
Legion of Honor. 

This was the first time that the Emperor and 
Empress appeared in public in full pomp. It was 
also the first time that they availed themselves of the 



THE BEGINNING OF THE EMPIRE. 17 

privilege of driving through the broad road of the 
garden of the Tiiileries. Accompanied by a magnifi- 
cent procession, they went in great splendor to the 
Invalides, Avhich the Revolution had turned into a 
Temple of Mars, and the Empire had turned again to 
a Catholic Church. At the door they were received 
by the Governor and M. de S^gur, Grand Master of 
Ceremonies, and at the entrance to the church by the 
Cardinal du Belloy at the head of numerous priests. 
Napoleon and Josephine listened attentively to the 
mass ; then, after a speech was uttered b}^ the Grand 
Chancellor of the Legion of Honor, M. de Lac^p^de, 
the Emperor recited the form of the oath; at the 
end of which all the members of the Legion shouted 
"I swear." This sight aroused the enthusiasm of 
the crowd, and the applause was loud. In the mid- 
dle of the ceremony, Napoleon called up to him Car- 
dinal Caprara, who had taken a very important part 
in the negotiations concerning the Concordat, and 
was soon to help to persuade the Pope to come to 
Paris for the coronation. The Emperor took from 
his own neck the ribbon of the Legion of Honor, and 
gave it to the worthy and aged prelate. Then the 
knights of the new order passed in line before the 
Imperial throne, while a man of the people, wearing 
a blouse, took his station on the steps of the throne. 
This excited some surprise, and he was asked what he 
wanted; he took out his appointment to the Legion. 
The Emperor at once called him up, and gave him 
the cross with the usual kiss. 



18 COUET OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

The Empress's beauty made a great impression, 
as we learn from Madame de Remusat, who was 
generally prejudiced against her, but on this occasion 
was forced to recognize that Josephine, by her taste- 
ful and careful dressing, succeeded in appearing 
young and charming amid the many young^ and 
pretty women by whom she Avas for the first time 
surrounded. " She stood there," Madame de Remu- 
sat goes on, "in the full light of the setting sun, 
wearing a dress of pink tulle, adorned with silver 
stars, cut very low after the fashion of the time, and 
crowned by a great many diamond clusters ; and this 
fresh and brilliant dress, her graceful bearing, her 
delightful smile, her gentle expression produced such 
an effect that I heard a number of persons who had 
been present at the ceremony say that she effaced 
all her suite." Three days later the Emperor started 
for the camp at Boulogne. 

In spite of the enthusiasm of the people and the 
army, one thing became clear to every thoughtful 
observer, and that was that the new regime, lacking 
strength to resist misfortunes, must have perpetual 
success in order to live. Napoleon was condemned, 
by the form of his government, not merely to suc- 
ceed, but to dazzle, to astonish, to subjugate. His Em- 
pire required extraordinary magnificence, prodigious 
effects, Babylonian festivities, gigantic adventures, 
colossal victories. His Imperial escutcheon, to escape 
contempt, needed rich coats of gilding, and demanded 
glory to make up for the lack of antiquity. In order to 



THE BEGIN N ma OF THE EMPIRE. 19 

make himself acceptable to the European monarchs, 
his new brothers, and to remove the memory of the 
venerable titles of the Bourbons, this former officer 
of the armies of Louis XVI., the former second-lieu- 
tenant of artillery, who had suddenly become a Csesar, 
a Charlemagne, could make this sudden and strange 
transformation comprehensible only through un^Dre- 
cedented fame and splendor. He desired to have a 
feudal, majestic court, surrounded by all the pomp 
and ceremony of the Middle Ages. He saw how 
hard was the part he had to play, and he knew very 
well how^ much a nation needs glory to make it for- 
get liberty. Hence a perpetual effort to make every 
day outshine the one before, and first to equal, then 
to surpass, the splendors of the oldest and most 
famous dynasties. This insatiable thirst for action 
and for renown was to be the source of Napoleon's 
strength and also of his weakness. But only a few 
clear-sighted men made these reflections when the 
Empire began. The masses, with their easy opti- 
mism, looked upon the new Emperor as an infallibly 
impeccable being, and thought that since he had not 
yet been beaten, he was invincible. Josephine in- 
dulged in no such illusions ; she knew the defects in 
her husband's character, and dreaded the future for 
him as well as for herself. Singularly enough for 
one so surrounded by flatteries, in her whole life her 
head was never for a moment turned by pride or 
infatuation. 



II. 

t 
THE JOUENEY TO THE BANKS OF THE RHINE. 

BEFORE having himself crowned by the Pope, 
after the example of Charlemagne, Napoleon 
was anxious to go to meditate at the tomb of the great 
Carlovingian Emperor, of whom he regarded himself 
as the worthy successor. A journey on the banks of 
the Rhine, a triumphal tour in the famous German 
cities which the France of the Revolution had been 
so proud to conquer, seemed to the new sovereign 
a fitting prologue to the pomp of the coronation. 
Napoleon was desirous of impressing the imaginations 
of people in his new Empire and in the old Empire 
of Germany. He wished the trumpets of fame to 
sound in his honor on both banks of the famous 
and disputed river. 

The Empress, who had gone to Aix-la-Chapelle to 
take the waters, arrived there a few days before her 
husband. Napoleon wrote to her, August 6, 1804 : — 

" My Dear : I have been here at Calais since mid- 
night; I am thinking of leaving this evening for 
Dunkirk. I am satisfied with what I see, and I am 
tolerably well. I hope that you will get as much 
20 



JOURNEY TO THE BANKS OF THE RHINE. 21 

good from the waters as I get from going about and 
from seeing the camps and the sea. Eugene has left 
for Blois. Hortense is well. Louis is at Plombi^res. 
I am very anxious to see you. You are always es- 
sential to my happiness. A thousand kind messages." 

The Emperor wrote again from Ostend, August 
14, 1804 : — 

" My Dear : I have not heard from you for several 
days, though I should have been glad to hear that 
the waters have done you good and how you pass 
your time. I have been here a week. Day after 
to-morrow I shall be at Boulogne for a tolerably 
brilliant festival. Send me word by the messenger 
what you mean to do, and when you shall have 
finished your baths. I am much satisfied with the 
army and the fleet. Eugene is still at Blois. I hear 
no more about Hortense than if she were at the 
Congo. I am writing to scold her. Many kind 
wishes for all." 

Napoleon reached Aix-la-Chapelle September 3. 
The Emperor Fi-ancis had, on the 10th of August, 
assumed the Imperial title accorded to his house, of 
Emperor-elect of Germany, Hereditary Emperor of 
Austria, King of Bohemia and Hungary. He had 
then given orders to M. de Cobentzel to go to Aix- 
la-Chapelle to present his credentials to Napoleon. 
Napoleon received the x\ustrian diplomatist very 
kindly, and was soon surrounded by a multitude of 
foreign ambassadors who came to pay their respects. 
He re-established the annual honors long before paid 



22 COUBT OF THE EMPBESS JOSEPHINE. 

to the memory of Charlemagne, went down into the 
vault, and gave the priests of the Cathedral con- 
vincing proofs of his munificence. The Empress 
was shown a piece of the true cross which the 
Carlovingian Emperor had long worn on his breast 
as a talisman. She was offered a holy relic, almost 
the whole arm of that hero, but she declined it, 
saying that she did not wish to deprive Aix-la- 
Chapelle of so precious a memorial, especially when 
she had the arm of a man as great as Charlemagne 
to support her. 

From Aix-la-Chapelle, Napoleon and Josephine 
went to Cologne, then to Coblentz, then to Mayence, 
travelling separately. The Emperor left Cologne 
September 16 at four in the afternoon, and reached 
Bonn a little before nightfall, to start again the next 
morning. The town pleased her very much, and she 
was sorry she could not remain there longer. She 
stayed at a fine house with a garden opening on a 
terrace that looked out over the Khine. After supper 
she walked on the terrace. The delight of the people 
assembled below, the peacefulness of the night, and 
the beauty of the river in the moonlight, made the 
evening most enjoyable. At four the next morning 
the Empress started off again in her travelling 
carriage, and at ten she entered Coblentz. The 
Emperor did not get there until six in the evening, 
having left Cologne the same day. At Bonn he got 
on horseback to examine for himself everything that 
demanded close inspection. From Coblentz, where a 



JOURNEY TO THE BANKS OF THE RHINE. 23 

ball was given them, Napoleon and Josephine went 
to Mayence, each by a different route. The Emperor 
followed the highway on the edge of the Rhine ; the 
Empress ascended the river in a yacht which the 
Prince of Nassau Weilburg had placed at her dis- 
posal. It was a picturesque voyage. 

The morning mist soon cleared away. Josephine, 
who had breakfast served on deck, admired the many 
charming scenes between Boppard and Bacharach, 
the fertile fields, the towns perched on the steep 
banks ; in the distance, the mountains covered Avith 
forests ; then the narrowing river, the bounded view, 
the cliffs crowded together, where nothing can be 
seen but the river, the sky, and the crags crowned by 
the mirrored towns of mediaeval castles. The light 
boat, as it glided smoothly over the stream, with its 
gilded Neptune at the bow, recalled Cleopatra's barge. 
At times the silence was profound, then the church- 
bells would be heard, as well as the cheers of the peas- 
ants on the river-banks. The pettiest villages had 
sent guards of honor, had hoisted flags, and raised 
triumphal arches. Curiously enough, the right bank, 
which did not belong to France, seemed to display 
quite as much zeal and enthusiasm as the left bank, 
the French one ; on both sides were the same shouts 
of welcome, the same demonstrations, the same sa- 
lutes. . When she reached Saint Goar, on the left 
bank, the Empress saw the authorities of the town 
coming out to meet her, with military music, in boats 
decorated mth branches of trees; and on the otlier 



24 COUBT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

side of the river, on the terrace of the castle of Hesse 
Rheinfels, the Hessian garrison was presenting arms, 
and their salutes joined with those of the inhabitants 
of Saint Goar. Further on, they shouted through 
a speaking-trumpet to hear the famous echo of the 
Lorelei, with its wonderfully distinct and frequent 
repetitions. Then they passed the fantastic castle of 
the Palatinate, built in the middle of the stream, and 
in old times the refuge of the Countesses Palatine, 
where their children were born and kept in security 
during their babyhood. The Empress landed at Bin- 
gen, where she spent the night, starting again the 
next morning. Towards three in the afternoon she 
reached Mayence, where twelve young girls belong- 
ing to the best families of the city were awaiting her. 
Almost simultaneously, the cannon at the other gate 
announced the Emperor's arrival. 

On his way. Napoleon had noticed on an island in 
the Rhine, at the very extremity of the French Em- 
pire, the convent of Rolands werth. He was told that 
the nuns who lived there had refused to leave it dur- 
ing the last war, and that very often the cannon-balls 
of the contending armies had often fallen on the 
island without damaging the convent where those 
holy women were praying. The Emperor became 
interested in their fate, and made over to them 
the forty or fifty acres of which the little island 
consisted. 

On their arrival at Mayence, September 21, Napo- 
leon and Josephine were most warmly greeted. In 



JOURNEY TO THE BANKS OE THE lilllNE. 25 

the evening all tlie streets and public buildings were 
illuminated. The Prince Archchancellor of the Ger- 
manic Empire, who owed to the French sovereign the 
preservation of his wealth and of his title, desired to pay 
his respects. The Emperor was surrounded by a real 
court of German Princes. The Princess of the House 
of Hesse, the Duke and Duchess of Bavaria, the Elec- 
tor of Baden, who was more than seventy-five years 
old, and had come with his son and grandson, ap- 
peared as if vassals of the new Charlemagne, the 
second Theatre Fran9ais had been summoned from 
Paris, and played before this public of Highnesses. 
Every one was struck by the celerity with which this 
crowned soldier had acquired the appearance of a 
sovereign belonging to an old line, Avhile he still pre- 
served the language and appearance of a soldier. 
One da}^ he asked the hereditary Prince of Baden : 
''What did you do yesterday?" The young Prince 
replied with some embarrassment that he had strolled 
about the streets. " You did very wrong," said Na- 
poleon. " What you ought to have done was to visit 
the fortifications and inspect them carefully. How 
can you tell? Perhaps some day you will have to 
besiege Mayence. Who would have told me when I 
was a simple artillery officer walking about Toulon 
that I should be destined to take that city?" It was 
at Mayence that the treasures unjustly extorted from 
the German Princes were restored to them. It was 
at Mayence that Gutenberg's name for the first time 
received formal homage. 



26 COURT OF THE EMPBESS JOSEPHINE. 

General cle Scgur, in liis Memoirs, narrates an 
anecdote about Napoleon's stay in tliis old German 
city. Tlie Emperor liad gone incognito and without 
escort to an island in the Rhine, not far from the 
town. As he was walking in this almost deserted 
island, he noticed a wretched hut in which a poor 
woman was lamenting that her son had been drafted. 
" Console yourself," said Napoleon, without letting 
her know who he was, and giving her an assumed 
name : " Come to Mayence to-morrow and ask for me ; 
I have some influence with the ministers and I will 
try to help you." The poor woman appeared punctu- 
ally. With delight and surprise she saw that the 
stranger was the Emperor of the French. Napoleon 
was delighted to tell her that her house which had 
been destroyed by the war should be rebuilt, that he 
would give her a little herd and several acres of land, 
and that her son should be restored to her. 

A letter in the Moniteur thus described the depart- 
ure of Napoleon and Josephine : " Mayence, 11 Ven- 
demiaire (October 3). The Empress left yesterday 
for Paris, by way of Saverne and Nancy. The Em- 
peror is just leaving ; he means to visit Frankenthal, 
Kaiserslanten, and Kreutznach ; then he will take the 
road to Treves. The stay of Their Majesties has 
been for us a source of lasting pleasure and advantage. 
The most important interests of our department 
have been favorably regulated. We have nothing 
now to wish for except an opportunity to show our 
gratitude, our devotion, and our fidelity, and the 



JOUBNEY TO THE BANKS OF THE BHINE. 27 

sincerity of the good wishes our citizens expressed by 
their unanimous cheers. The Electors, the Princes, 
and the many distinguished strangers who have given 
our city the appearance of a great capital, are now 
taking their departure." 

This journey on the banks of the Rhine made a 
deep impression in France and throughout Europe. 
It must be confessed that no one has ever equalled 
the Emperor in the art of keeping himself pictur- 
esquely before the public. Napoleon in the crypt at 
Aix-la-Chapelle, face to face with the shade of Charle- 
magne is a subject to ins^^ire a painter or a poet! At 
Brussels, in the church of Saint Gudule, Napoleon 
evoked the memory of Charles V. ; at Aix-la-Chapelle 
in the Cathedral vault he questioned the shade of 
Charlemagne. And as he meditated on the tomb of 
the Carlovingian hero, so now do monarchs on their 
way through Paris meditate in their turn over his 
tomb beneath the gilded dome of the InvalideSi 
They go down into the crypt, look at the porch up- 
held by twelve great statues of white marble, each 
one commemorating a victory, at the mosaic pave- 
ment representing a huge crown with fillets, the 
sarcophagus of red granite from Finland, placed on a 
foundation of green granite from the Yosges. Then 
they enter the subterranean chamber, the black mar- 
ble sanctuary, which contains, among numerous relics, 
the sword that Napoleon carried at Austerlitz, the 
decorations he wore an his uniform, the gold crown 
voted him by the city of Cherbourg, and finally sixty 



28 COUBT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

flags won in his victories. The church of the Inva- 
lides inspires the same thoughts as the Cathedral of 
Aix-la-Chapelle. In the two temples kings and 
great men may make the same reflection about glory, 
about death, about the handful of dust which is all 
that is left of heroes. 



III. 

THE pope's arrival AT FONTAINEBLEAU. 

THE time for the coronation was drawing near. 
Napoleon, who had already received the official 
recognition of foreign powers, was anxious to have his 
Imperial title consecrated by a great religious cere- 
mony, the fame of which should resound throughout 
the whole Catholic world. The first date proposed 
for the solemnity was the 26th Messidor, Year XII. 
(July 14, 1804), then that of the 18th Brumaire, 
Year XIII. (Nov. 9, 1804). But the choice in each 
case was unfortunate. It was hard to combine the 
memory of the taking of the Bastille with the coro- 
nation of a sovereign, and the 18th Brumaire would 
have recalled the regrets of Republicans and the ser- 
vices of Lucien Bonaparte, who, after being the main 
aid of his brother's fortune, was living at Rome, in 
disgrace and exile. On the other hand, the Pope's 
hesitation, for it was with the greatest difficulty that 
he could make up his mind to go to Paris, had 
further postponed the date, which was at last fixed 
for the beginning of December. 

Josephine awaited with impatience and fear an 

29 



30 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

event on which, she felt, her future fate depended. 
The Pope, that mysterious and holy person, had 
started. Was he to prove her saviour? Was she to 
be a repudiated wife or a crowned Empress? The 
clergy were untiring in their laudations of Napoleon's 
glory. Bishops, in their charges, spoke of him as 
God's elect. One prelate, speaking of the Empire, 
had said : " One God and one monarch I As the 
God of the Christians is the only one deserving to be 
adored and obeyed, you, Napoleon, are the only man 
worthy to rule the French I " Another had said : 
"Napoleon, whom God called from the deserts of 
Egypt, like another Moses, will bring peace between 
the wise Empire of France and the divine Empire of 
Christ. The finger of God is here. Let us pray the 
Most High to protect with his powerful hand the 
man he has chosen. May the new Augustus live 
and rule forever ! Submission is his due because he 
is ordered by Providence ! " Yet in spite of these 
extravagant outbursts which came from every pulpit 
in the whole French Empire, this restorer of the 
altars, this saviour of religion was married only by 
civil right ! From the ecclesiastic point of view, he 
was living in concubinage. He had had his brother 
Louis's marriage with Hortense de Beauharnais, and 
his sister Caroline's with Murat blessed by Cardinal 
Caprara, but in spite of Josephine's entreaties, he had 
denied her this pious satisfaction. It was on the 
Pope that the Empress put all her hope ; she thought 
that he would take pity on her, and by bringing her 



into conformity with the rules of the church, wouki 
put an end to a condition of things humiliating to 
her as a sovereign, and painful to her as a Catholic. 

At the same time Josephine was anxiously wonder- 
ing whether she Avas to be crowned. Her brothers- 
in-law became more venomous in their intrigues 
against her, and desired not only that she be ex- 
cluded from any part in the coronation, but also that 
she should be condemned to divorce on the pretext 
of barrenness. Joseph Bonaparte was never tired of 
saying that Napoleon ought to marry some foreign 
Princess, or at least some daughter of an old French 
family, and he skilfully Jaid stress on his own unsel- 
fishness in urging a plan Avhich would necessarily 
remove himself and his descendants from the line of 
inheritance. The Emperor's sisters showed the same 
hostility towards Josephine, whom they hated, al- 
though she well deserved their love. Since Napo- 
leon maintained an absolute silence about his inten- 
tions concernhig the coronation, the Bonapartes 
already imagined that she was going to be divorced, 
and hence exhibited an untimely delight which dis- 
pleased the Emperor and brought him closer to his 
wife. At last, tired with family bickerings, he sud- 
denly put an end to them and filled Josephine with 
joy by telling her that she was to be crowned at 
Notre Dame. 

The reader should turn to the curious account in 
Miot de Melito's Memoirs of the council held at Saint 
Cloud, November 17, 1804, to arrange the formalities 



32 COUBT OF THE EMPBJES8 JOSEPHINE. 

of the coronation. Of Napoleon's four brothers, two 
were in disgrace, Lucien and Jerome, and they were 
not to he present at the ceremony. As for Joseph 
and Louis, it was decided that they should appear, 
not as Princes of the blood, but only as high digni- 
taries of the Empire. Joseph, it will be remembered, 
was Grand Elector, and Louis was Constable. 

This decision once taken, Joseph said in the council 
of November 17: "Since it has been recognized that, 
with the exception of the Head of the State, no one 
else, whatever his rank, can be regarded as partaking 
the honors of sovereignty, and that we especially are 
not treated as Princes, but only as high dignitaries, 
it would not be right that our wives, who henceforth 
are only wives of high dignitaries, should as Prin- 
cesses carry the train of the Empress's robe, which 
consequently must be carried by Ladies of Honor 
or of the Palace." This remark dis]Dleased the 
Emperor, and many members of the council cited 
many examples to refute it, notably that of Maria cle' 
Medici. Joseph, who had foreseen their arguments, 
displayed unexpected erudition: "Maria de' Medici," 
he said, " was accompanied only by Queen Margaret, 
the first wife of Henri lY., and by Madame (Cath- 
erine of Bourbon), the King's sister. The train was 
carried by a very distant relative. Queen Margaret 
had, indeed, offered a fine example of generosity by 
being present at the coronation of the woman who 
took her place and who, more fortunate than herself, 
had borne heirs to Henri IV. But she was not 



THE POPE'S ABEIVAL AT FONTAINEBLEAIL 33 

asked to cany the train of Maria de' Medici, and 
yet Maria de' Medici had a light to every honor, 
because she was a mother." This very transparent 
allusion to Josephine's barrenness so exasperated 
Napoleon that he arose suddenly from his chair and 
addressed his brother with the intensest bitterness 
and violence. After the meeting Joseph proposed to 
his brother retiring to German}^ Napoleon relented 
and, November 27, he said to his brother : " I have 
given a great deal of thought to the difference that has 
arisen between you and me, and I will confess that 
during the six days that this quarrel has lasted, I 
have not had a moment's peace. I have even lost 
my sleep over it, and you are the only person Avho 
has this power over me ; I know nothing that disturbs 
me to this degree. This influence comes from my 
old affection for you and from my recollection of 
what you did for me in my boyhood, and I am much 
more dependent than you think on feelings of that 
sort. . . . Take your position in an hereditary mon- 
archy and be the first of my subjects. That is a fine 
enough position, to be the second man in France, 
perhaps in Europe. . . . Comply with my wishes ; 
follow my ideas ; do not flatter the patriots when 
I. drive them away; do not oppose the nobles when I 
summon them ; form your household according to 
the principles that have guided me. In a word, be a 
Prince, and do not disturb yourself about the impor- 
tance of the title." 

Joseph at last yielded, and promised that his wife 



84 COITBT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

should conform without a murmur to the ceremonies 
established for the coronation. Only this concession 
was made to their susceptibilities : that in the rules 
the phrase, bea?- the cloak was substituted for ca?^^ 
the train, "for," as Miot de Melito says, " Vanity will 
clutch at a straw." 

As for Madame Bonaparte, Napoleon's mother, she 
persisted in remaining at Rome with Lucien. In 
spite of frequent messages from Paris, she was not to 
get there until some days after the coronation, a fact 
which did not prevent her appearing in the great 
picture commemorating the event, painted by David, 
who was successively Jacobin and Imperialist, and 
beginning with the apotheosis of Marat, celebrated 
that of Napoleon. 

Pope Pius VII., then sixty-two years old, had left 
Rome November 2, after praying for a long time at 
the altar of Saint Peter's. The populace had followed 
his carriage for a long distance, weeping with terror 
at his undertaking a journey to revolutionary France. 
At Florence he had been received by the Queen of 
Etruria, then a widow and her son's Regent. At 
Lyons he became less anxious ; a number of the in- 
habitants crowded about him, and fell on their knees, 
asking for the blessing of the Vicar of Christ. Mean- 
while, Napoleon was putting the last touches to the 
repairs he had commenced at the Palace of Fontaine- 
bleau, to put it in a suitable condition to receive the 
Sovereign Pontiff. In less than twenty days the fur- 
nishing of the 2:)alace had been completed, and the cas- 
tle had, as if by magic, resumed its old-time splendor. 



THE POPE'S ABEIVAL AT FONTAINEBLEAU. 35 

Every one wondered how the first meeting between 
the Pope and the Emperor woukl take place. Many 
points of etiquette arose which Napoleon managed to 
elude. Pius VII. was to arrive through the forest of 
Fontainebleau, and the Emperor was to go to meet 
him through the forest of Nemours. To prevent all 
formality, Napoleon made an excuse of a hunting 
party. All the huntsmen, with their carriages, met 
in the forest. Napoleon was on horseback, in hunt- 
ing dress. When he knew that the Pope and his 
suite were due at the cross of Saint Herene — • at noon, 
Sunday, November 25, 1804 — he turned his horse in 
that direction, and as soon as he reached the half- 
moon at the top of the hill, he saw the Pope's car- 
riage arriving. 

According to the account given in the Memoirs of 
the Duke of Rovigo, the carriage of Pius VII. stopped, 
and the pontiff in his white robes got out by the left- 
hand door. The road was muddy, and he was averse 
to stepping into it with his white silk slippers ; but 
there was nothing to be done. Napoleon got off his 
horse to receive him, and sprang cordially into his 
arms. These two famous men, who, although they 
were entire strangers, had already thought so often 
of each other, and were to exercise such great influ- 
ence over each other's destiny, now met with deep emo- 
tion. As they were embracing, one of the Emperor's 
carriages, which had been ordered to drive up, pushed 
on a few steps as if by an oversight of the coachman ; 
the footmen held both doors open; the Emperor took 



36 COURT OF THE EMPBE88 JOSEPHINE. 

that on tlie right ; a court official pointed to that on 
the left for the Pope, so that the two sovereigns 
entered the same carriage simultaneously by the two 
doors. The Emperor sat down naturally on the right- 
hand side, and this first step established the etiquette 
for the whole time of the Pope's stay, without dis- 
cussion. 

At the entrance of the Palace of Fontainebleau, 
the Empress, the high dignitaries of the Empire, the 
generals, were formed in a circle to receive and 
salute Pius VII. He was welcomed with the utmost 
reverence. His fine, noble face, his air of angelic 
kindness, his soft, yet sonorous voice, produced a 
deep impression. Josephine was especially moved by 
the presence of the Vicar of Christ. After resting a 
few moments in his private apartment, to which he 
nad been conducted by M. de Talleyrand, High Cham- 
berlain, by General Duroc, Grand Marshal of the 
Palace, and by M. de S^gur, Grand Master of Cere- 
monies, the Pope paid a visit to Napoleon, who, after 
an interview of about half an hour, conducted him 
back to the hall that was at that time called that 
of the , High Officers. The two sovereigns dined 
together, and the Pope went early to bed, to rest 
himself after the fatigues of his long journey. The 
next evening some singers had been summoned to 
the Empress's apartment, but Pius VII. withdrew 
just as the concert was about to begin. 

In the course of the day Josephine had had a pri- 
vate interview with the Pope, and had confided to 



THE POPE'S AEEIVAL AT FONTAINEBLEAU. 37 

him the secret which so distressed her. She who 
was reigning over the greatest of Catholic nations, 
the consort of the successor of the very Christian 
Kings, the wife of a ruler about to be crowned by 
the Pope, was married only by civil rite ! She en- 
treated Pius VII. to use all his influence with Napo- 
leon to put an end to a situation which was a con- 
tinual torture and reproach to her as a wife and as a 
Christian. The Pope appeared touched by the confi- 
dence of his dear daughter, as he always called the 
Empress, and promised to demand, and, if necessary, 
to insist, upon the celebration of the Emperor's relig- 
ious marriage, as a condition of the coronation, and 
this promise filled Josephine with joy. 

The presence of the Pope and the Emperor, the 
throng of prelates, generals, courtiers, and beautiful 
women, the combination of religious and Imperial 
pomp gave to the Castle of the Valois, a few days 
before dilapidated and abandoned, new splendor and 
magnificence. Never in the most brilliant days of 
the reign of Francis I., or Henri II., or of Louis 
XIV., had this sumptuous residence appeared in 
greater state. This wonderful palace is renowned 
for its superb and picturesque architecture, its majes- 
tic fagades, its five courts : that of the White Horse, 
of the Fountain, of the Dungeon, of the Princes, of 
Henri IV. The Festival Hall is very beautiful, with 
its rich and abundant ornamentation, its walnut 
floor, divided into octagonal panels richly outlined 
with inlaid gold and silver, its monumental mantel- 



38 COURT OF THE EMPEESS JOSEPHINE. 

piece, with its figures, emblems, and fantastic fres- 
coes, the brilliant masterpieces of Primaticcio, and of 
Mcolo d'Abati. 

Alas I this splendid Fontainebleau, the gorgeous 
palace where Pope and Emperor were then living in 
tiiumph, was later to be to both an accursed spot. 
The Pope was to return to it a prisoner, maltreated 
though old, though a priest, though the Vicar of 
Christ, and there the Emperor was to drink the cup 
of humiliation, of despair, to the dregs. It was there 
that, conquered, broken, betrayed by fortune, he was 
to sign his abdication. It was there that he was to 
utter those heart-rending words : " It is right ; I 
receive what I have deserved. I wanted no statues, 
for I knew that there was no safety in receiving 
them at any other hands than those of posterity. 
A man to keep them while he lives, needs constant 
good fortune. I think of France, which it is terrible 
to leave in this state, without frontiers when it had 
such wide ones ! — that is the bitterest of the humilia- 
tions that overwhelm me. To leave France so small 
when I wished to make it so great!" It was there 
that, overcome by immeasurable grief, the conqueror 
of so many battles wished to seek in suicide a refuge 
from the tortures of thought, and that he was to 
fail to find death, he who on the battle-field had 
squandered so many lives. O mortals, ignorant of 
your own fates, how happy you are not to have 
foreknowledge of them ! 



IV. 

THE PEEPABATIONS FOR THE CORONATION. 

THE Empress left Fontainebleau, Thursday, 
November 29, 1804, in company with Madame 
de La Rochefoucaukl, Maid of Honor, and Madame 
d'Arberg, Lady of the Palace, and reached Paris the 
same day, a few hours before the Emperor and the 
Pope, who left Fontainebleau in the same carriage 
and entered the Tuileries at eight in the evening. 
A platoon of Mamelukes escorted the Imperial car- 
riage, and it was a singular sight to see the Mussul- 
man escorting the Vicar of Christ, The Pope was 
installed at the Tuileries in the Pavilion of Flora. 
There were attached to his person M. de Viry, the 
Emperor's Chamberlain; M. de Lu^ay, Prefect of 
the Palace, and Colonel Durosnel, Equerry. 

All Paris was excited by the approach of the great 
event. The hotels were croAvded ; the population of 
the capital was nearly doubled, so vast was the 
throng of provincials and foreigners. Tradesmen 
were working night and day to prepare the dresses 
and uniforms. In every workshop there was un- 
paralleled activity. Leroy, who previously had been 

39 



40 COURT OF THE EMPBESS JOSEPHINE. 

only a milliner, had decided for this occasion to 
undertake dressmaking, and had made Madame Raim- 
bault, a celebrated dressmaker of the time, his partner. 
From their shop came the magni^cent robes to be 
worn by the Empress on Coronation Day. Her 
jewels, consisting of a crown, a diadem, and a girdle, 
were the work of the jeweller Margueritte. The 
crown was formed of eight branches meeting under 
a gold globe surmounted by a cross. The branches 
were set with diamonds, four in the shape of a palm 
leaf, four in the shape of a myrtle leaf. Around the 
curve was a ribbon inlaid with eight enormous emer- 
alds. The frontlet was bright with amethysts. The 
diadem was formed of four rows of pearls inter- 
laced with diamond leaves, with many large brilliants, 
one alone weighing one hundred and forty-nine grains. 
The girdle was a gold band, enriched with thirty-nine 
pink gems. The Emperor's sceptre had been made 
by Odiot; it was of solid silver, enlaced by a gold 
serpent, and surmounted by a globe on which was a 
miniature figure of Charlemagne seated. The hand 
of justice, the crown, and the sword came from the 
workshops of Biennais. The dress of the courtiers 
was to be very magnificent ; it consisted of a French 
coat of different colors according to the duties of the 
wearer under the Grand Marshal, the High Chamber- 
lain, and the Grand Equerry, with silver embroidery 
for all ; a cloak worn over one shoulder, of velvet, 
lined with satin ; a scarf, a lace band, and the hat 
caught up in front, and adorned with a feather. The 



PBEPAEAriONS FOE THE COEONATION. 41 

women were to appear in ball dress, with a train, 
with a collar of blond-lace, called a cherusque^ which 
was fastened on both shonlders and rose high behind 
the head, recalling the fashions of the time of 
Catherine de' Medici. 

There were rehearsals of the coronation as if it 
were a spectacular play. Every one, from the princi- 
pal actors to the most insignificant assistants, studied 
his part most conscientiously ; the Masters of Cere- 
monies were to act as prompters to those who might 
forget. The Imperial carriages and those of the 
Princes and Princesses one morning were all driven 
empty to the neighborhood of Notre Dame, that 
coachman, postilions, and grooms might know the 
route they were to take, and when they were to draw 
up. The carriages were superb, the horses magnifi- 
cent, the liveries sumptuous. Never in the most 
extravagant days of the monarchy had such luxury 
been seen. 

M. de Bausset says that a week before the corona- 
tion the Emperor commanded of the artist Isabey 
seven drawings representing the seven principal cere- 
monies to take place at Notre Dame, which, however, 
could not be rehearsed in the Cathedral on account 
of the number of workmen busy day and night in 
decorating it. To ask at once for seven drawings 
each containing more than a hundred persons in 
action, was asking for the impossible. Isabey skil- 
fully eluded the difficulty. He bought at the to}^ 
shops all the little dolls he could find, dressed them 



42 COURT OF THE E31PRESS JOSEPHINE. 

up as Pope, Emperor, Empress, Princes, high digni- 
taries, Chamberlains, Equerries, Ladies of Honor, 
Ladies of the Palace. These dolls thus arrayed he 
arranged on a plan in relief of the interior of Notre 
Dame, and carrying it to the Emperor, said : " Sire, 
I bring Your Majesty something better than the 
drawings." Napoleon thought the idea ingenious, 
and used the dolls and the plan to make every official 
understand his place and his duty. 

The Mo7iiteur of the 9th Frimaire, Year XIII. 
(November 30, 1804), published in advance all the 
details of the ceremony, which the Emperor had fixed 
with as much care as if it had been the plan of a 
battle. A difficulty arose on this occasion. The 
Pope had wished Napoleon to receive the holy com- 
munion in public on the day of the coronation, and 
Napoleon had given the matter thought. The Grand 
Master of Ceremonies, M. de Segur, brought up 
against the proposition the necessity of a preliminary 
confession and the possibility that absolution might 
be denied him. " That's not the difficulty," said the 
Emperor, "the Holy Father knows how to distin- 
guish between the sins of Csesar and those of the 
man." Then he added: "I know that I ought to 
give an example of respect for religion and its 
ministers; so you see that I treat the priests well, 
go regularly to mass, and listen to it with all due 
seriousness and solemnity. But every one knows me, 
and how would it be for me, and for others, if I should 
go too far? Would not that be setting an example 




PREPARATION H FOR THE CORONATION. 43 

of hypocrisy, and committing a sacrilege ? " The 
Pope did not insist upon it. This dread of commit- 
ting sacrilege Napoleon referred to again at Saint 
Helena, in 1816: "Everything was done," he said 
then, " to persuade me to go in great j)omp to 
communion at Notre Dame, after the fashion of our 
kings ; I absolutely refused ; I did not believe enough, 
I said, to get any good from it, and yet I believed too 
much to consent to be guilty of sacrilege." 

Another difGculty which gave the Pope much anx- 
iety, and was not settled in the formalities of the cor- 
onation, was whether the Emperor should receive 
the crown from the hands of the Sovereign Pontiff. 
Pius VII. had brought up the question before leaving 
Rome, and Cardinal Consalvi had written on this 
matter, to which the Vatican attached great impor- 
tance, as follows : " All the French Emperors, all 
those of Germany, who have been crowned by the 
Popes, have accepted the crown from them. The 
Holy Father, before undertaking this journey, re- 
quires to receive from Paris the assurance that there 
will be no innovation made in the present case, in the 
way of a diminution of the honor and dignity of the 
Sovereign Pontiff." At Rome only vague and dila- 
tory answers had been received. In Paris the Em- 
peror, leaving the matter to be decided on the spur 
of the moment, had only said : " I will arrange that 
myself." 

The preparations at Notre Dame had come to an 
end. They had been very considerable. Several 



44 COURT OF THE EMPBESS JOSEPHINE. 

houses that hid the north facade had been destroyed. 
Before the great entrance, still scarred by the ravages 
of the Revolutionists, there had been set up a deco- 
ration of painted wood, representing a vast Gothic 
porch with three arches upholding the statues of the 
thirty-six good cities, the mayors of which were to be 
present at the coronation. To the right and the left 
stood images of Clovis and Charlemagne, sceptre in 
hand. Above, between two golden eagles, appeared 
the Imperial coat-of-arms. This was intended for the 
sole entrance of the Pope and the Emperor. It was 
connected with the Archbishop's j^alace by large, cov- 
ered, wooden galleries, adorned within by gobelin 
tapestry. This palace, to which Pius YII. and Na- 
poleon were to go before they entered the Cathedral, 
no longer exists; it was destroyed, February 14, 1831, 
in an insurrection. It used to stand just by the side 
of the church. It was built in 1161 by Maurice de 
Sully, rebuilt in 1697 by the Cardinal of Noailles, 
embellished in 1750 by the Archbishop de Beaumont, 
and was the meeting-place of the Constituent Assem- 
bly from October 19 to November 9, 1789. There 
the Pope and the Emperor were to alight on their 
way from the Tuileries and put on their grand coro- 
nation robes before entering the Cathedral. 

The whole church of Notre Dame had been hung 
with crimson stuffs adorned with gold fringe, with 
the arms of the Empire embroidered on the corners. 
On each side of the nave and around the choir had 
been built three rows of galleries, decorated alike 



PREPABATIONS FOR THE CORONATION. 45 

with silk and velvet stuffs fringed with gold, and 
flags had been arranged like a trophy about each pil- 
lar. Above the trophies were winged and gilded 
victories, holding candelabra with a vast number of 
candles. There were, besides, twenty-four chande- 
liers hanging from the roof. The galleries kept out 
the light, es]3ecially at the season when the days were 
short; consequently it had been decided that the 
Cathedral should be artificially lit during the cere- 
mony, thus augmenting the pomp and beauty of the 
spectacle. The choir, shut off by a railing, was • re- 
served for the clergy. To the right of the high altar, 
on a platform with eleven steps, had been raised the 
pontifical throne, above which was a golden dome 
adorned with the arms of the Catholic, Apostolic, and 
Roman Church. In front and on each side of the 
pontifical throne were benches with backs for the car- 
dinals and prelates. For the Emperor and the Em- 
press had been prepared what was called the great 
and the little throne. The little throne was formed 
of two armchairs, one for Napoleon, the other for Jo- 
sephine. These two chairs stood on a platform with 
four steps, opposite the high altar. The Emperor 
and Empress were to occupy them during the first 
part of the ceremony. The grand throne was at the 
other end of the church, with its back against the 
great door, which was thus closed. This great throne 
stood on a large semicircular platform, and was 
reached by twenty-four steps. It stood under a can- 
opy in the shape of a triumphal arch, upheld by eight 



46 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

columns, and it overlooked the whole church. The 
Emperor and the Empress were not to ascend this 
throne till after the coronation. 

For the coronation Napoleon had given to the 
Cathedral a number of holy vessels in silver-gilt, 
enriched with diamonds, and very valuable lace albs, 
a processional cross, chandeliers, and incense-burners. 
At the same time he restored to the Cathedral a great 
number of relics with which the piety of Saint Louis 
had endowed the Sainte Chapelle. In 1791 they had 
been deposited in the treasury of Saint Denis, by 
order of Louis XVL, thence in 1793 they had been 
transferred to the cabinet of curiosities in the Na- 
tional Library, and had been exposed under the 
Directory, in the Llall of Antiquities. The Emperor 
restored them to the worship of the faithful. 

The preparations were completed, and the cere- 
mony promised to be magnificent. Madame Junot, 
afterwards the Duchess of Abrantes, breakfasted 
with the Empress at the Tuileries, December 1, 1804, 
the day before the coronation. Josephine was much 
excited and radiantly happy. At breakfast she told 
how amiably the Emperor had talked with her that 
morning and how he had tried on her head the crown 
which she was to put on the next day at Notre 
Dame. As she said that she shed tears of gratitude. 
She spoke then of her pain when Napoleon had 
refused her request for Lucien's return. " I wanted 
to plead this great day," she said, "but Bonaparte 
spoke so harshly that I had to keep silent. I wanted 



PREPAEATIONS FOR THE CORONATIOy. 47 

to show Lucien that I could return good for evil ; if 
you have a chance, let him know it." 

In the eveuing the Senate came to the Tuileries to 
announce to the Emperor the result of the plebiscite 
which approved of the Empire and the matter of 
inheritance ; 3,521,660 citizens having voted for, and 
2,579 against. Napoleon replied to the President of 
the Senate with the infatuation that springs from 
success and the consciousness of strength : " I ascend 
the throne to which I have been called by the unan- 
imous voices of the Senate, the people, and the army, 
with my heart full of feeling of the great destinies of 
this people whom, from the midst of camps, I first 
saluted with the name of great. Since my youth all 
my thoughts have been devoted to it, and I must say 
here, my pleasures and my pains now are nothing but 
the pleasures and the pains of my people. My 
descendants will long fill this throne. They will 
never forget that contempt of laws and the overthrow 
of the social order are only the results of the weak- 
ness and indecision of rulers." 

The hour of disaster was approaching, but it had 
not yet struck ; the morrow was to be radiant. Sal- 
vos of artillery were fixed every hour from six in the 
evening till midnight ; at each salvo, the towers, 
spires, and public buildings were illuminated for a few 
minutes by Bengal lights. Imperial insignia, among 
others the sword of Charlemagne, were already in the 
Church of Notre Dame. General de Segur, then a 
captain under the command of the Grand Marshal of 



48 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE, 

the Palace, was charged to watch that precious relic 
during the night. He records one thing about it 
which clearly shows the bellicose spirit of the men of 
the time. One of the officers guarding the Imperial 
sword conceived the mad idea of using it against one 
of his comrades, who defended himself with his own 
sabre, and consoled himself for his defeat and for a 
slight AYOund with the thought that he was beaten by 
so glorious a weapon. 

That same night, the one before the coronation, 
Josephine's wishes were granted. Her union with 
Napoleon was blessed by the church. An altar was 
mysteriously raised in the Tuileries, and there, in the 
presence of M. de Talleyrand and the Marshal 
Berthier, who were the only witnesses, Cardinal Fesch 
celebrated, in the profoundest secrecy, the religious 
marriage of the Emperor and Empress. The scruples 
of Pius VII. were thus allayed. Josephine could be 
crowned the next day. 



V. 

THE CORONATION. 

IT was December 2, 1804. Since early morning 
all Paris had been alive. It was very cold ; the 
sky was covered, but no one thought of the unpleas- 
ant weather. All the streets through which the pro- 
cession was to pass had been carefully swept and 
sprinkled with sand. The inhabitants had decorated 
the fronts of their houses according- to their tastes 
and means, with draperies, tapestry, artificial flowers, 
and branches of evergreens. Two lines of infantry 
were drawn up for a space of about half a league. 
Long before the hour of the departure of the Pope 
and the Emperor from the Tuileries, a vast throng 
had gathered in the streets, was crowding every win- 
dow, and assembling on every roof. Marshal Murat, 
Governor of Paris, offered at an earl}^ hour a sumjD- 
tuous breakfast to the Princes of Germany who had 
come to Paris for the coronation — the Elector Arch- 
chancellor of the German Empire, the Princes of 
Nassau, of Hesse, and of Baden. After the breakfast 
they drove to Notre Dame in four superb carriages, 
drawn by six horses each, with an escort under the 

49 



50 COUBT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

command of one of his aides-de-camp, and he himself 
mounted his horse to take his place at the head of 
the twenty squadrons of cavalry which were to go in 
front of the Emperor's carriage. 

At the Tuileries Napoleon put on what was called 
the undress attire ; this he was to wear on his way 
from the palace to the Archbishop's. He was not to 
put on full dress, that is to say, the Imperial robes 
and cloak, until he was to enter the church. The 
undress is thus described by Constant, the Emperor's 
valet: silk stockings embroidered with gold; low 
boots of white velvet, embroidered with gold on the 
seams; with diamond buttons and buckles on his 
garters; a coat of crimson velvet faced with white 
velvet; a short cloak of crimson lined with white 
satin, covering the left shoulder and fastened on the 
right-hand side by a double clasp of diamonds ; a 
black velvet cap, surmounted by two aigrets, a dia- 
mond loop, and for button, the most celebrated of 
the crown jewels, the Regent. 

The Empress's costume was no less magnificent. 
She wore a dress, with a train, of silver brocade 
covered with gold bees ; her shoulders were bare, 
but on her arms were tight sleeves embroidered with 
gold, the upper part adorned with diamonds, and 
fastened to them was a lace ruff worked with gold 
which rose behind half up her head. The tight- 
fitting dress had no waist, after the fashion of the 
time, but she wore a gold ribbon as a girdle, set w^ith 
thirty-nine pink gems. Her bracelets, ear-rings, 



THE COEONATION. 51 

and necklace were formed of precious stones and 
antique cameos. Her diadem consisted of four rows 
of pearls interlaced with clusters of diamonds. The 
Empress, whose hair was curled, after the fashion 
of the reign of Louis XIV., although forty-one years 
old, looked, according to Madame de Kemusat, no 
more than twenty-five. The Emperor was much 
struck by Josephine's beauty in this sumptuous 
attire ; all this luxury impressed him. He recalled 
the days of his childhood, and turning to his favorite 
brother, he said : " Joseph, if father could see us ! " 

Nine o'clock sounded, the hour set for the departure 
of the Pope, who was to reach Notre Dame before the 
Emperor. The Sovereign Pontiff, clad in white, went 
down the staircase of the Pavilion of Flora and 
entered his carriage, which was drawn by eight 
horses ; above it was a large tiara. At Rome it was 
the custom that when the Pope went forth to officiate 
at one of the great churches, — for instance, to Saint 
John Lateran, — for one of his chamberlains to start a 
moment before him, mounted on a mule, and carry- 
ing a great processional cross. Pius VII. asked that 
the same thing might be done at Paris ; consequently 
the pontifical procession was headed by a chamber- 
lain whose mule did not fail to amuse the vast crowd 
that lined the quays ; yet when the Pope passed, all 
knelt down and received his blessing with due respect. 
With cavalry in front and behind, the Pope's carriage 
and the eight carriages in which were the cardinals, 
Italian prelates and officers who had come from 



62 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

Rome with liim, drove slowly along the quays to the 
Archbishop's Palace. There were awaiting him all 
the French cardinals, archbishops, and bishops, and 
he was received by the Cardinal du Belloy, the Arch- 
bishop of Paris, as he entered to put on his pontifi- 
cal robes. The pontifical procession entered Notre 
Dame in the following order : a priest, carrying the 
apostolic cross; seven acoiytes, carrying the seven 
golden candlesticks; more than a hundred bishops, 
archbishops or cardinals, in cope and mitre, march- 
ing two by two ; and last of all the Holy Father, his 
tiara on his head, under a canopy between two cardi- 
nals who held up the ends of his golden cope. The 
clergy intoned the hymn Tu es Petrus, which was 
very impressive, and the Sovereign Pontiff, after 
kneeling for a few moments before the high altar, 
took his seat in the middle of the choir on the pontifi- 
cal throne, above which was a dome adorned with 
the coat-of-arms of the church. 

The Emperor and the Empress, who were to leave 
the Tuileries at ten, did not start till half past ten. 
They got into the magnificent coronation carriage 
which excited the hearty admiration of the crowd, 
always fond of show. It was drawn by eight superb 
horses, splendidly harnessed; upon it was a golden 
crown upheld by four eagles with outstretched wings. 
The four sides of the coach were of glass, set in 
slender carved uprights, so that there was an unob- 
structed view of Napoleon and Josephine on the 
back seat, with Joseph and Louis Bonaparte opposite 



THE CORONATION. 53 

them. Salvos of artillery announced the Emperor's 
departure from the Tuileries. Twenty squadrons of 
cavalry, with Marshal Murat at their head, led the 
procession. Eighteen carriages, with six horses each, 
followed, conveying the high dignitaries and the 
courtiers. Bands played triumphal marches, and all 
along the way a vast crowd saluted this sovereign. 
The procession starting from the Tuileries by the 
Carrousel went along the rue Saint Honore as far as 
the rue de Lombards, crossed the Pont au Change, 
and then along the quay to the rue du Parvis Notre 
Dame and the Archbishop's Palace. Just as the 
Emperor and the Empress were entering the palace 
courtyard, the mist, which had been thick all the 
morning, cleared away, and the sun came out glisten- 
ing on the gilded decorations of the Imperial coach. 
The Moniteui% with its official enthusiasm, spoke of 
" the orb of day escaping, against every expectation, 
from the rigid rule of a stormy season to light up the 
festal day." 

At the Archbishop's Palace, Napoleon changed his 
dress, putting on his coronation robes. This differed 
entirely from the costume he had worn from the 
Tuileries to the palace, and consisted of a tight-fit- 
ting gown of white satin, embroidered with gold on 
every seam, and of an Imperial mantle of crimson 
velvet, all over which were golden bees ; it was 
bordered by worked branches of olive-tree, laurels, 
and oak, in circles enclosing the letter N, Avith a 
crown above each one ; the lining, the border, and 



54 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

the cape were of ermine. This cloak, fastened on the 
right shoulder, while leaving the arm free, reached to 
just above the knee, and weighed no less than eighty 
pounds, and though it was held by four persons. 
Prince Joseph, Prince Louis, the Archchancellor 
Cambaceres, the Archtreasurer Lebrun, was for the 
Emperor, who was a short man, a sumptuous, but 
heavy load. He carried it, however, with fitting 
majesty. On his head he had put a crown of golden 
laurel, the laurel of Cccsar ; around his neck he wore 
the diamond necklace of the Legion of Honor; on 
his left side he carried a sword with a large handle 
— the scabbard was of blue enamel adorned with gold 
eagles and bees. At the same time Josephine com- 
pleted her dressing, putting on a long red velvet 
cloak, sprinkled with gold bees, and lined with 
ermine ; its skirts were upheld by Princesses Joseph, 
Louis, Elisa, Pauline, and Charlotte. 

The Imperial procession proceeded from the Arch- 
bishop's Palace to Notre Dame through the wooden 
gallery, and entered the church, not through the mid- 
dle entrance, which was blocked by the great throne, 
but through one of the side-doors. They advanced 
in the following order, with an interval of ten paces 
between each group: the ushers, four abreast, the 
heralds at arms, two abreast; the Chief Herald at 
Arms ; the pages, four abreast ; the aides of the 
masters of ceremonies ; the masters of ceremonies ; 
the Grand Master of Ceremonies, M. de Segur ; Mar- 
shal S^rurier, carrying on a cushion the Empress's 



THE CORONATION. 55 

ring; Marshal Moncey, carrying the basket which 
was to receive her cloak; Marshal Murat, carrying 
her crown on a cushion ; the Empress, with her First 
Equerry on her right, and her First Chamberlain on 
her left ; she wore the Imperial cloak, which was 
supported by the five Princesses, the cloak of each 
one of these being supported by an officer of her 
household ; Madame de La Rochefoucauld, Maid of 
Honor, and Madame de Lavalette, the Empress's 
Lady of the Bedchamber; Marshal Kellermann, car- 
rying the crown of Charlemagne, a diadem with six 
branches adorned with valuable cameos ; Marshal 
Perignon, carrying Charlemagne's sceptre, at the end 
of which was a ball representing the world, with a 
small figure of the great Carlovingian Emperor ; Mar- 
shal Lefebvre, carrying Charlemagne's sword; Marshal 
Bernadotte, carrying Napoleon's necklace; Colonel 
General Eugene de Beauharnais, €he Emperor's ring ; 
Marshal Berthier, the Imperial globe ; M. de Talley- 
rand, the basket destined to receive the Emperor's 
cloak. Then came the Emperor, the crown of golden 
laurel on his head, holding in one hand his silver 
sceptre, topped by an eagle, and encircled by a golden 
serpent, and in the other his hand of justice. His 
cloak was supported by his two brothers, Joseph, 
Grand Elector, and Louis, Constable, as well as 
by the Archchancellor Cambaceres and the Arch- 
treasurer Lebrun. Then followed the Grand Equerry, 
the Colonel General of the Guard, and the Grand 
Marshal of the Palace, the three abreast, the min- 



56 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

isters, four abreast, and the high officers of the 
army. 

As Napoleon entered the church, the twenty thou- 
sand spectators shouted, " Long live the Emperor ! " 
A cardinal gave holy water to Josephine ; the Car- 
dinal, the Archbishop of Paris, presented it to Napo- 
leon ; and the two prelates, after complimenting the 
Emperor and the Empress, conducted them in a pro- 
cession, under a canopy held by canons, to the smaller 
throne in the middle of the choir. There they were 
to sit during the first part of the ceremony, near the 
high altar, on a platform with four steps. As the 
Emperor and the Empress entered the choir, the 
Pope came down from the pontifical chair, and in- 
toned the Ve7ii Creator. The Emperor handed to the 
Archchancellor his hand of justice ; to the Archtreas- 
urer, his sceptre; to Prince Joseph, his crown; to 
Prince Louis, his sword ; to the Grand Chamberlain, 
his Lnperial cloak; to Colonel General Eugene de 
Beauharnais, his ring. The six objects formed what 
were called " the Emperor's ornaments." They were 
placed on the altar by the representative dignitaries, 
and were to be handed again to the Emperor by the 
Pope in the course of the ceremony. The same was 
true of the " Empress's ornaments," her ring, cloak, 
and crown, which were placed on the altar ; the ring, 
by Marshal Serurier ; the cloak, by Marshal Moncey ; 
the crown, by Marshal Murat. Charlemagne's insig- 
nia, his crown, sceptre, and sword, remained during 
the whole ceremony in the hands of Marshals Keller- 



THE CORONATION. 57 

maim, Perignon, and Lefebvre, who stood at the right 
of the small throne in the choir. 

As soon as the ornaments of the Emperor and 
Empress had been placed on the altar, the Pope 
asked the Emperor in Latin if he promised to use 
every effort to have law, justice, and peace rule 
in the church and among his people ; Napoleon 
touched the gospels with both hands, as it was held 
out to him by the Grand Almoner, and answered 
Projiteor. Then the Pope, the bishops, archbishops, 
and cardinals knelt before the altar and began the 
litany. When they reached the three verses used only 
at coronations, the Emperor and Empress also knelt. 

After the litany, the Grand Almoner, another car- 
dinal, and two bishops' advanced towards the small 
throne, and bowed low before Napoleon and Jose- 
phine, and conducted them to the foot of the altar to 
receive sacred unction. The Emperor and Empress 
knelt on blue velvet cushions placed on the first step 
of the altar. The Pope anointed Napoleon on the 
head and his two hands, uttering the prayer of conse- 
cration : " Mighty and Eternal God, who didst ap- 
point Hazael to be king over Syria, and Jehu to be 
king over Israel, making known thy wishes through 
the prophet Elijah ; and who didst pour holy oil of 
kings upon the head of Saul and of David, through 
the prophet Samuel, send dow^n through my hands, 
the treasures of thy grace and of thy blessings upon 
thy servant Napoleon, whom, in spite of our unworthi- 
ness, we consecrate to-day as Emperor, in thy name." 



58 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

Then the Pope anointed the Empress m the same 
way, reciting this prayer : " May the Father of eter- 
nal glory be thy aid ; and may the Omnipotent bless 
thee ; may he hear thy prayers, and give thee a long 
life, ever confirming this blessing and maintaining it 
forever with all thy people ; may he confound thy 
enemies; may the sanctification of Christ and the 
anointing of this oil ever aid thee, so that he who on 
earth has given thee his blessing may give thee in 
heaven the happiness of the angels, and that thou 
mayst be blessed and guarded for eternal life by 
Jesus Christ, our Saviour, who lives and reigns for- 
ever and ever." 

The Emperor and Empress were then conducted to 
the small throne, that is to say, to their two chairs ; 
before each one was a praying-stand. Then high 
mass began ; it was said by the Pope ; the music had 
been composed by Paesiello, the Abbe Rose, and Le- 
sueur. There were three hundred performers, singers, 
and musicians ; among the soloists were the great 
singer Lais, and two famous violinists, Kreutzer and 
Baillot. At the G-radual the mass was interrupted 
for the blessing of the ornaments which the Emperor 
and Empress then put on. 

Napoleon, followed by the Archchancellor, the 
Archtreasurer, the Grand Chamberlain, the Grand 
Equerry, and two chamberlains, and Josephine, 
accompanied by her Lady of Honor, her Lady of 
the Bedchamber, her First Chamberlain, and her 
First Equerry, advanced towards the altar, and 



THE CORONATION. 59 

ascended the steps at the same time ; the Sovereign 
Pontiff, with his back to the altar, was sitting on a 
sort of folding-chair. He blessed the Imperial orna- 
ments, Teciting a special prayer for each one. His 
Holiness then handed them to the Emperor in the 
following order: first the ring, which Napoleon 
placed on his finger ; then the sword, which he put 
in its scabbard; the cloak, which his chamberlains 
fastened on his shoulders, then the hand of justice 
and the sceptre which he handed to the Archchan- 
cellor and the Archtreasurer. 

The only ornament left to be given to the Emperor 
was the crown. It will be remembered that there 
had been a long negotiation at Rome to ascertain 
whether the Emperor would be crowned by the Pope 
or would crown himself. The question was left 
uncertain, and Napoleon had said that he would 
settle it himself at Notre Dame when the time came. 
Still Pius VII. was convinced that he was going to 
place the crown on the sovereign's head. He had 
just handed him the ring, the sword, the cloak, the 
hand of justice, and the sceptre, and was preparing 
to do the same thing with the crown. But the 
Emperor, who had ascended the last step of the altar, 
and was following every motion of the Pope, grasped 
from his hands the sign of sovereign power and 
proudly placed it on his own head, Pius VII., out- 
witted and surprised, made no attempt at resistance. 

After thus crowning himself. Napoleon proceeded 
to crown the Empress. This was the most solemn 



60 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

moment in Josephine's life ; the moment which dis- 
pelled all her incessant dread of divorce, the brilliant 
verification of her fondest hopes, the completion of 
her triumph. Napoleon advanced with emotion to 
this companion of his happiest days, to the woman 
who had brought him happiness ; she was kneeling 
before him, shedding tears of joy and gratitude, with 
her hands clasped and trembling. He recalled all 
that he owed her : his happiness, for, thanks to her, 
he had been blessed with a requited love; his glory, 
for it was she who, in 1796, had secured for him the 
command of the Army of Italy, the origin of all his 
triumphs. He must have been glad at this moment 
that he had not followed his brother's malicious 
suggestions and had not separated from his dear 
Josephine ! The affection of the young General 
Bonaparte revived in the heart of the sovereign. 
He thought Josephine more gracious, more touching, 
more lovable than ever, and it was with an outburst 
of happiness that he placed the Imperial diadem on 
her charming and cherished head. 

The Emperor and Empress, once crowned, pro- 
ceeded to the great throne, at the entrance of the 
church, by the great door, being solemnly led there 
by the Pope and the Cardinals. The Imperial pro- 
cession then formed again in the order in which it 
had come to Notre Dame, the Empress going before 
the Emperor. At this moment the Princesses seemed 
to hesitate about carrying the skirt of the Empress's 
cloak ; Napoleon noticed this, and said a few severe, 



THE CORONATION. 61 

firm words to his sisters, and all was smoothed. 
The procession reached the foot of the great throne ; 
the Emperor ascended the twenty-four steps and sat 
down in full majesty, wearing his crown and Imperial 
cloak, holding the hand of justice and the sceptre. 
At his right, on a seat like his, but one step lower, 
the Empress placed herself. Another step lower, sat 
the Princesses on simple seats. At the Emperor's 
left, two steps below him, were the Princes and high 
dignitaries. On each side of the platform the mar- 
shals, high officers, and ladies of the court took their 
places. The sight was most impressive. The Pope 
in his turn ascended the twenty-four steps, and thus 
commanding the whole Cathedral, extended his hands 
over the Emperor and the Empress, and uttered these 
Latin words, the formula used for taking the throne : 
'•''In hoc solio confirmare vos Deics, et in regno oeterno 
secum regnare faciat Christus ! " — " May God estab- 
lish you on your throne, and may Christ cause you 
to reign with him in his eternal kingdom I " Then 
he kissed the Emperor on the cheek, and turning 
towards the assembled multitude, said : " Vivat Im- 
perator in ceternum!^^ — "May the Emperor live for- 
ever ! " This was what had been said ten centuries 
before at Saint Peter's in Pome when the ruler of the 
same people, Charlemagne, had been proclaimed Em- 
peror of the West. 

Applause broke forth and three hundred musicians 
intoned the Vivat Imperator., a hymn composed by 
the Abbe Rose. The pontifical procession and the 



62 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

Imperial procession returned to the choir; the Em- 
peror and Empress resumed their places on the chairs, 
and the Pope began the Te Beum. After this, which 
was sung by four choirs and two orchestras, the mass, 
which had been interrupted by the ceremony with the 
ornaments and the taking possession of the throne, 
went on. At the offertory, Napoleon and Josephine, 
followed by the two Princes and the five Princesses, 
went to lay their offerings before the Pope ; these con- 
sisted of a silver-gilt vase, a lump of gold, a lump of 
silver, and a candle about which were inlaid thirteen 
pieces of money. At the elevation Prince Joseph 
removed the Emperor's crown, and Madame de La 
Rochefoucauld, Maid of Honor, that of the Em- 
press. Napoleon and Josephine knelt before the 
Host, and when they rose, put their crowns on again. 
When mass was over, the Emperor took the polit- 
ical oath prescribed by the constitution, which had 
aroused much opposition in Rome. The presidents 
of the great bodies of the state brought him the for- 
mula, and with one hand held over the gospels, the 
Emperor swore to maintain the principles of the Rev- 
olution, to preserve the integrity of the territory, and 
to rule with an eye to the interest, happiness, and glory 
of the French people. The First Herald-at-Arms then 
called forth in a loud voice: "The most glorious 
and most august Emperor Napoleon, Emperor of the 
French, is crowned and enthroned: Long live the 
Emperor ! " That was the end of the ceremony. 
Salvos of artillery mingled with the applause. 



THE CORONATION. 63 

The solemnity had been most successful, and Na- 
poleon could say with truth to his brother Joseph : 
" For me it is a battle won ; by my art and the meas- 
ures I took, I have succeeded beyond my expecta- 
tions." Had he not prophesied accurately when he 
said to his secretary at the signing of the Concordat ; 
" Bourrienne, you will see what use I shall make of 
the priests ! " The golden chasubles had made a bril- 
liant spectacle by the side of the uniforms ; the 
crosses and the tiara by the side of the swords and 
the sceptre. Napoleon, always a master of theatrical 
effect, had known how to lend antiquity to his new- 
born glory by borrowing from the past all its majesty 
and pomp, and by skilfully decking himself with what 
was most brilliant in the chronicles of remote centu- 
ries. From Charlemagne he took his insignia ; from 
Caesar his golden laurel. The head of a nation that 
had grown great by the cross and the sword, he de- 
sired to make his coronation the festival of the church 
and of the army. 

The Imperial and the pontifical processions re- 
turned to the Archbishop's Palace, and half an hour 
later proceeded to the Tuileries, through the New 
Market, the Place du Ch^telet, the rue Saint Denis, 
the boulevards, the rue and the Place de la Concorde, 
the Pont Tournant, and the grand roadway of the 
castle. Night had fallen; the houses were illumi- 
nated. Five hundred torches cast their light on the 
two processions, and by their imposing and strange 
brilliancy, the crowd gazed with interest on the new 
Charlemagne and the Yicar of Christ. 



64 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

Napoleon and Josephine re-entered the Tuileries at 
half past six; the Pope at about seven. The Em- 
peror, who was somewhat tired by all this ceremony, 
gladly resumed his modest uniform of Colonel of the 
Chasseurs of the Guard. He dined alone with Jo- 
sephine, asking her to keep on her head the becoming 
diadem which she wore so gracefully. That evening 
he chatted pleasantly with the ladies-in-waiting, and 
praised the rich dresses they had worn in such splen- 
dor at Notre Dame ; he said to them, laughing: "It's 
I who deserve the credit for your charming appear- 
ance." Then they looked out of the windows on 
the illuminated garden, the large flower-garden sur- 
rounded with porches covered with lights, the long 
alley adorned with shining colonnades, on the terraces 
of orange-trees all aglow, with a number of glasses of 
various colors on every tree, and finally on the Place 
de la Concorde, one blazing star. It was like a sea 
of flame. 

It was the painter who had been a member of. the 
Convention, the moyitagnard^ the regicide who had in- 
sulted Louis XVI., who had painted the apotheosis 
of Marat, and with a malicious hand had drawn the 
features of Marie Antoinette on her way to the scaf- 
fold; it was this artist, this fierce demagogue, the 
ardent Revolutionist, who was commissioned with 
painting the official representation of the coronation. 
He carried his gallantry so far as to choose for his 
subject, not the moment when Napoleon crowned, 
himself, but that of the coronation of the Empress ; 



THE CORONATION. 65 

and when a critic accused him of making Josephine 
too young, he said : " Go and say that to her ! " 
When the picture was finished, tlie Emperor and the 
court went to see it in the artist's studio. Napoleon 
walked up and down for half an hour, bareheaded, 
before the canvas, Avhich is about twenty feet high, 
about thirty long, and contains one hundred portraits. 
(It is now at Versailles in the Hall of the Guards, at 
the top of the marble staircase.) The Emperor exam- 
ined it with the closest attention, while David and 
all who were present maintained a respectful silence. 
This long waiting made the artist very anxious. At 
last Napoleon turned towards him and said : " It's 
good, David, very good. You have divined all my 
thought; you have made me a French knight. I 
thank you for transmitting to ages to come the proof 
of affection I wanted to give to her who shares with 
me the pains of government." Then taking two steps 
towards the artist, he raised his hat and said, in a 
loud voice : " David, I salute you." 

Sometimes at Notre Dame in Holy Week, at even- 
ing service, when the Cathedral is lit up as at the 
coronation, I recall the various ceremonies of this 
church : the royal baptisms and marriages there cele- 
brated; the banners hung from its roof; the Te Deums 
and Be Profundis so often sung there ; Bossuet utter- 
ing the funeral oratioii of the Prince of Conde ; the 
shameless goddess of Reason profaning the sanctuary. 
I close ni}^ eyes in meditation, and seem to be present 
at the coronation, to see Pius YII. on his pontifical 



6Q COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

throne, and, before the altar. Napoleon crowning 
Josephine with his own hands. I hear the echo of 
distant litanies, of the trumpets, of the organ, and of 
the applause. Then I think of the nothingness of all 
human glory and grandeur. Of all the illustrious 
persons who have knelt in this old basilica, what is 
left ? Scarcely a few handf uls of dust. I open ni}-^ 
eyes. The days are silent; the crowd has quietly 
withdrawn. The lights are out, and at the end of 
the church, in the shadow, like a timid star in a 
cloudy day, burns a solitary lamp. 



VI. 



THE DISTRIBUTION OF FLAGS. 

THE coronation was the signal for a succession 
of festivities. Napoleon was anxious that all 
classes of society should take part in the rejoicings ; 
that commerce should be benefited; that luxury should 
do wonders ; and that Paris should take the position 
of the first city in the world, the capital of capitals. 
The day after the coronation was to be the popular 
holiday, and the day when the flags were distributed 
was to be the festival of the army. Monday, Decem- 
ber 3, booths were open on every side for the enter- 
tainment of the crowd. Adulation assumed every 
guise, even the humblest ; and every form of language, 
even that of the markets, was employed to flatter the 
new sovereign. There was sung, " The joyous round 
on the lottery of thirteen thousand fowls, with an 
accompaniment of fountains of wine." It was a 
description of the food distributed to the poor people 
of Paris. This song was sung in every street and 
place, as the Ca ira was sung in '93. 

The compliment of the marketmen and of their 
ladies ran thus: "I have reasoned it out with my 

67 



68 COVET OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

wife that a house a thousand times as large as Notre 
Dame would not be able to hold all those who have 
reason to bless you." In the way of incense, nothing 
was too gross for the sovereign. One district said of 
Na^Doleon : — 

" He received for us when God formed him, 
The arm of Romulus, the mind of ]N\ima." 

The Empress too was praised : — 

" Spouse of the hero whom the universe regards, 
The Graces accompany you to the temple. 
Every one sees in your face the bounty 
Of which you distribute the gifts." 

In allusion to her love of flowers this quatrain was 
composed: — 

" Josephiniana ! this is the new flower 
Whose beauty catches my eye. 
To join the laurels of Csesar 
Nothing less is needed than an immortal flower." 

The Emperor was sung, too, in mythological lan- 
guage, for his flatterers tried to exhaust all sorts of 
adulation. On Coronation Day the Prefect of Police 
had distributed a poem entitled The Crown of Napo- 
leon hrought from Olympus hy command of Jupiter : — • 

" Mounting one of the coursers of the proud Bellona, 
Mercury brings a crown from Olympus; 
The king of the gods sends it to the hero of the French 
As the reward of his success. 

Ye whom he guided a hundred times in the fields of glory, 
Phalanx of warriors, children of victory. 
Braving the impotent fury of the English, 
Sing Napoleon, sing your Emperor." 



THE DISTRIBUTION OF FLAGS. 69 

December 3 tlie public rejoicings organized by the 
government extended from the Place de la Concorde 
to the Arsenal. Heralds-at-arms walked through the 
city, distributing medals struck to commemorate the 
coronation. These medals bore on one side the head 
of the Emperor, his brow wearing the crown of the 
Csesars ; on the other, the image of a magistrate, and 
of an ancient warrior, supporting on a buckler a 
crowned hero, wearing an Imperial mantle. Beneath 
was the inscription : " The Senate and the People." 

As soon as the heralds-at-arms had passed by, the 
merry-making began, continuing till late in the night. 
There was a distribution of food, as well as sports of 
all kinds, reminding one of the times of the Roman 
Emperors: panem et circenses. On the Place de la 
Concorde had been built four large wooden halls for 
public balls. The cold was severe ; there was a hard 
frost, but this did not check the universal enjoyment. 
On the boulevards there were at every step puppet 
shows, wandering singers, rope dancers, greased poles, 
bands of music. From the Place de la Concorde to 
the end of the boulevard Saint Antoine sparkled a 
double row of colored lights arrayed like garlands. 
The Garde Meuble and the Palace of the Legislative 
Body were ablaze with lights. The arches of Saint 
Denis and of Saint Martin were all covered with 
lights ; the crowd was enraptured with the fireworks, 
which had never been so fine. 

The people of Paris had been invited to illuminate 
the fronts of their houses, and moved either by enthu- 



70 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

siasm or self-interest, they had spent large sums for 
this purpose. Among the notable illuminations was 
that of the engineer Chevalier, on the Pont Neuf. 
There was a transparency in which, amid encircling 
laurels and myrtles, was to be seen an optician turn- 
ing his glass up to the sky towards a bright star, 
around which was this inscription: '-'- In hoe signo 
solus / " — "In this sign is safety ! " 

December 3 was the first day of the coronation 
festivities. The third day was devoted to what the 
Moniteur called, "arms, valor, fidelity." This was 
the day when Napoleon formally presented to the 
army and to the National Guard of the Empire the 
eagles, " which they were always to find on the field 
of honor." This ceremony took place on the Champ 
de Mars. To quote once more from the Moniteur: 
" This vast field, crowded with deputations repre- 
senting France and the army, bore the aspect of a 
brave family assembled under the eyes of its chief." 
The main front of the Military School had been dec- 
orated with a huge gallery, with several tents as high 
as the apartments on the first floor. The middle one, 
resting on four columns which supported winged 
victories, covered the thrones of the Emperor and 
the Empress. The Princes, the high dignitaries, the 
ministers, the marshals of the Empire, the high offi- 
cers of the crown, the civil officers, the ladies of the 
court, were to take their places at the right of the 
throne. The galler}^, in the middle of which was 
the Imperial tent, was in front of the Military School, 



THE BlSTIilBUTlON OF FLAGS. 71 

and was divided into sixteen parts, eight on each 
side, representing the sixteen cohorts of the Legion 
of Honor. A broad staircase led from this gallery to 
the Champ de Mars ; the first step was for the presi- 
dents of cantons, the prefects, sub-prefects, and the 
members of the municipal councils. On the other 
steps, there stationed themselves colonels of regi- 
ments and presidents of the electoral colleges of 
the departments, holding flags surmounted with 
eagles. On each side of the staircase were colossal 
figures of France, one at war, the other at peace. 
Twenty-five thousand soldiers, in faultless trim, had 
been under arms since six in the morning. 

Unfortunately, the weather was terrible ; a thaw 
had begun and it was raining in torrents. The 
Champ de Mars was a sea of mud. The courtiers 
who, on the 2d of December, had so belauded the 
sun, representing it as a sharer in the festival, a 
docile slave of the Emperor, were obliged to acknowl- 
edge that it was raining. Madame de R^musat made 
a very true remark about this ; she said with truth 
that one of the commonest, though one of the ab- 
surdest, flatteries of every time, was that of pretend- 
ing that a sovereign's need of fine weather was sure 
to bring it. " At the Tuileries," she said, " I noticed 
the opinion that the Emperor needed only to appoint 
a review or a hunt for a certain day, and that day 
would be pleasant. . Whenever that happened, a 
great deal was said about it, while silence was kept 
about rainy or foggy weather. This is exactly what 



72 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

used to happen under Louis XIV. For the honor of 
sovereigns I should prefer that they accepted this 
childish flattery with indifference or disgust, and 
that no one would think of offering it. It was 
impossible to deny that it rained during the distribu- 
tion of the eagles at the Champ de Mars ; but how 
many people I met the next day, who assured me 
that the rain had not wet them ! " 

In spite of the bad weather, an enormous crowd 
lined the road through which the Imperial procession 
was to pass. The terraces of the Tuileries, the Place 
de la Concorde, the quais were thronged. Number- 
less spectators covered the slopes of the Champ de 
Mars. The ever obsequious Moniteur, in its official 
account of the ceremony, said: "If the spectators 
were uncomfortable, there was not one who was not 
consoled by the feeling that held him there, and by 
the expression of his wishes which the applause made 
very clear." 

At noon the Emperor and the Empress, followed 
by their suite, left the Tuileries in the order ob- 
served at the coronation, passed down the broad 
road, over the Pont Tournant, through the Place 
de la Concorde, to the Champ de Mars. Before 
their carriage rode the Chasseurs of the Guard and 
a squadron of Mamelukes ; behind it came the 
mounted grenadiers and the chosen Legion. On 
reaching the Military School, Napoleon and Jo- 
sephine received the compliments of the Diplomatic 
Body ; then they put on their coronation robes, and 



THE JDIHTIUBUTION OF FLAG.^. 73 

took their place in the gallery in front of the bnild- 
ing. As soon as the Emperor had seated himself 
on the throne, cannon were fired, drums beat, bands 
played. The deputations from the army, who were 
assembled in the Champ de Mars, formed in close 
columns and came forward. Then Napoleon arose 
and said in a loud voice : " Soldiers ! These are 
your flags; these eagles will always be your rally- 
ing point; they will be wherever your Emperor 
may think necessary for the defence of his throne 
and of his j)eople. You will swear to offer your life 
in their defence, and by your courage to keep them 
always on the path to victory. You swear it?" 
Officers and men replied: "We swear it! " 

Alas ! these flags were to be always on the path 
of honor, but not always on the path of victor}^, for 
victory is a female goddess and a fickle one. Against 
how many enemies these flags were to be defended, 
beneath scorching suns, under avalanches of ice and 
snow ! What heroism, what miracles of bravery, 
were to be witnessed by these standards on many a 
battle-field ! What fatigue, what suffering, what sac- 
rifices, dangers, wounds, how many glorious deaths, 
what seas of blood, to come at last to the most lamen- 
table disasters ! Had the future been seen, those 
drums would have been draped in black. But the 
army imagined itself invincible. The thought of de- 
feat would have called forth a smile of pity. Proud 
of itself, of its commander, it shouted with joy and 
pride as it passed before the throne. 



74 COURT OF THE EMPEESS JOSEPHINE. 

A single incident disturbed this martial ceremony. 
Suddenly an unknown young man approached the 
Imperial gallery, and shouted: "Down with the 
Emperor ! Liberty or death ! " This ardent Republi- 
can was at once arrested. His voice had been lost 
in the music and clatter of arms. 

The rain continued, and soon soaked through the 
canvas and stuffs sheltering the throne. The Em- 
press was obliged to leave, with her daughter, who 
had recently given birth to a child. The other Prin- 
cesses followed this example, with the exception of 
Madame Murat, who, although lightly clad, remained 
exposed to the showers. She said that she was 
learning how to endure the inevitable discomforts of 
the highest rank. 

At five o'clock Napoleon and Josephine were once 
more at the Tuileries where a state dinner was given 
in the Gallery of Diana. In the middle of this 
gallery the table of tlie Emperor and the Empress 
was placed beneath a magnificent canopy, on a plat- 
form. The Empress sat there with the Emperor on 
the right and the Pope on her left. The high officers 
of the crown, as well as a colonel-general of the 
Guard and a prefect of the palace, remained stand- 
ing near the Imperial table. 

Pages waited on the tables. The Archchancellor 
of the German Empire took his place at that of the 
Emperor. In the same gallery were set other tables 
for the French Princes and for the hereditary Prince 
of Baden, for the ministers, for the ladies and officers 



THE DISTRIBUTION OF FLAGS. 75 

of the Imperial household. After the dinner was a 
concert, at which the Pope consented to be present. 
When that was over Pius YII. withdrew, and the 
evening ended with a ballet danced by the dancers 
of the opera in the great hall called since the Em- 
pire the Hall of the Marshals. 



VII. 

THE FESTIVITIES. 

THE winter of 1804-5 was very brilliant. Napo- 
leon was anxious to give the beginning of his 
reign an air of splendor. He allowed his officials 
generous salaries, but he insisted on their spending 
all they received in sumptuous living, in entertaining 
freely, and receiving distinguished foreigners. Lux- 
ury became compulsory, and trade flourished beyond 
all expectations. Paris had never, even in the grand- 
est days of the old monarchy, known greater social 
animation. This martial generation, accustomed to 
desire a short but merry life, aware that the festivities 
of one day would be interrupted by the battles of the 
next, were as eager in the ball-room as on the battle- 
field. They hastened to enjoy their present pros- 
perity as if they foresaw the disasters to come. 
French gallantry, which had been forgotten during 
the Revolution, resumed its sway. The women were 
like the fair mistresses of castles in the Middle Ages 
who gave their hearts to the bravest knights. Love 
and glory both became the fashion. The former Lady 
of the Bedchamber to Marie Antoinette, Madame 
76 



THE FESTIVITIES. 77 

Campan, who taught most of the young women of 
the court in her school at Saint Germain, had formed 
a group of beauties, trained in aristocratic manners, 
at the head of whom was her ablest, most intelli- 
gent pupil, Hortense de Beauharnais, who had been 
married to Prince Louis Bonaparte. The Grand 
Chamberlain, M. de Talleyrand, a poor bishop but an 
excellent specimen of a grand lord, and the Grand 
Master of Ceremonies, M. de Segur, whose success as 
ambassador of Louis XVI. at the court of Catherine 
was very great, set the tone in the households of the 
Emperor and the Empress. 

Napoleon set an example of luxury and elegance. 
Grand dinners, concerts, official entertainments suc- 
ceeded one another Avith startling rapidity. Joseph- 
ine, who was wildly fond of dress, was glad of an 
excuse to indulge her extravagant tastes. The Em- 
peror's three sisters lived like real princesses, rivalling 
one another in magnificence. Princes Joseph and 
Louis displayed the pomp of future kings. 

Almost all the women of the court were young and 
pretty. It would have been hard to confer on any 
one, to the exclusion of the rest, the palm of beauty. 
There were three who were especially distinguished ; 
Madame Maret (later the Duchess of Bassano) ; Mad- 
ame Savary (later the Duchess of Rovigo) ; and 
Madame de Canisy (later the Duchess of Vicenza). 
The last named had married M. de Canisy, the 
Emperor's equerr}^ Later, she got a divorce and 
married M. de Caulaincourt, Duke of Vicenza and 
Grand Equeiiyo 



78 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

At Saint Helena Napoleon thus recounted the 
origin of this famous beauty : " Madame de Lomenie, 
the Cardinal's niece, before being put to death in the 
Revolution, entrusted to Father Patrault her two 
young daughters. When the terror was over, Mad- 
ame de Brienne, their aunt, who had weathered the 
storm and still possessed a large fortune, demanded 
them of Father Patrault, who refused to give them 
up for a long time, on the ground that their mother 
had urged him to bring them up as peasants." And 
Napoleon went on : "I was then General of the Army 
of the Interior ; and was able to secure the return of 
the two children, though with some difficulty, for 
Patrault resisted in every way in his power. They 
were the women whom you afterwards knew as 
Madame de Marnesia and as the beautiful Madame 
de Canisy." 

The Duchess of Abrant^s, in recalling the brilliant 
winter of 1804-5, says, in her Memoirs : " One espe- 
cially impressive beauty, particularly in the ball-room, 
was Madame de Canisy. I have often compared her 
to a muse. It would be impossible for a single face 
to present a fuller combination of charms than hers : 
she possessed regular features, a delightful expres- 
sion, an attractive smile ; her hair was silky and 
glossy. Seldom have I seen anything more charming 
than Madames de Canisy, Maret, and Savary in enter- 
ing a ball-room together." 

There was no lack of entertainments at which 
these beauties shone. The one given at the Hotel de 



THE FESTIVITIES. 79 

Ville, December 16, 1804, to the Emperor and tlie 
Empress, was so costly that it kept the city of Paris 
for many years in debt. Napoleon, Josephine, Princes 
Joseph and Louis drove to it in the coronation coach. 
Batteries of artillery, stationed on the Pont Neuf, 
announced the moment of their arrival, while tables 
covered with poultry, and fountains of wine, attracted 
an enormous crowd to the place ; almost every one 
had a share in this distribution of food, thanks to the 
precautions taken by the authorities of delivering it 
only to those who presented a ticket. The front of 
the Hotel de Ville was illuminated with colored lan- 
terns. When the Empress entered the apartments 
reserved for her, she found there a complete and mag- 
nificent gold toilet-service : it was a present from 
the City Council. The President of the Council thus 
addressed her : " Madame : How could the Parisians, 
who are so capable of distinguishing what is good, 
delicate, and noble, let slip this opportunity of paying 
their homage to the profound tenderness, the touch- 
ing grace, the true dignity that characterize Your 
Majesty ? The happy influence of these rare qualities 
already makes itself felt in all classes of society, and 
while your august spouse elevates France in glory, 
you inspire it to resume the first rank among the 
races most renowned for urbanity." The hall in 
which the Imperial banquet was to be given was 
called the Hall of Victories. On the door was the 
inscription Fasti Napoleonic and at intervals, separated 
by military trophies and standards, were Latin inscrip- 



80 COURT OF THE EMPBESS JOSEPHINE. 

tions ill honor of Napoleon. Before dinner he was 
presented with a table-service of silver-gilt by the 
city of Paris. Then he took his seat, with the Em- 
press, on a platform beneath a canopy, and the meal 
began. During dinner, a band, hidden behind green 
foliage, played a symphony of Haydn's, and then 
was sung a cantata full of flattery for the Emperor 
and the Empress. 

After the dinner there were magnificent fireworks. 
As the first rockets rose, a second cantata was sung. 
One of the pieces of fireworks represented a man-of- 
war with eighty guns ; its decks, masts, sails, and 
rigging were represented by glowing lights. Another, 
which the Emperor himself set off, represented Mount 
Saint Bernard sending forth a volcanic eruption from 
snow-covered rocks. In the centre appeared the image 
of Napoleon at the head of his army, riding up the 
steep slope of the mountain. 

This entertainment, which closed with a ball at 
which seven hundred persons were present, was a 
real apotheosis. Madame de Remusat, speaking of 
the extravagant adulation devised for this occasion, 
says : " A great deal has been said about the fulsome 
flatteries of Louis XIV. during his reign ; I am sure 
that altogether they would not amount to a tenth 
part of those that Bonaparte received. I remember 
that at another festivity given by the city to the 
Emperor a few years later, since all inscription had 
been exhausted, there were placed above the throne 
on which he was to sit, these words from Scripture, 



THE FESTIVITIES. 81 

in gold letters: Et/o sum qui sum, — and no one was 
shocked." 

The Senate and the Legislative Body also gave 
grand entertainments in honor of the coronation. 
That of the Legislative Body was particularly bril- 
liant. This assembly, which rivalled the Senate in 
obsequiousness, had decided that a marble statue 
should be raised to the Emperor in the room where 
it sat, in honor of the drawing up of the civil code. 
The day when this statue Avas to be inaugurated was 
chosen for the festivity. The Empress, followed by a 
magnificent suite, reached the Palace of the Legisla- 
tive Body at about seven in the evening. As she 
entered, musicians intoned Gliick's famous chorus, 
which used to be sung on formal occasions in the 
reign of Louis XVL, in honor of Marie Antoinette : — 

" What charms ! What majesty ! " 

Unanimous applause emphasized the allusions. 
Then on the President's invitation. Marshals Murat 
and Massena raised the veils that covered the statue, 
and all eyes beheld the figure of Napoleon, wearing 
on his brow a laurel wreath, in which were mingled 
oak and olive leaves. Later, at the time of his 
abdication at Fontainebleau, Napoleon expressed a 
regret that he had permitted liis statue to be made 
during his lifetime. 

Then M. de Vaublanc ascended the tribune, and 
made a speech full of extravagant praise; it ended 
thus : " You live, all of you, threatened by the perils 



82 COURT OF THE EMPBESS JOSEPHINE. 

of tke times ; you live, and you owe your life to him 
whose statue you behold. You return unfortunate 
exiles; you breathe once more the delicious air of 
your own country ; you embrace your fathers, your 
children, your wives, your friends ; all this you owe 
to him whose statue you behold. There is no longer 
any question of his glory ; I say nothing about it ; I 
invoke humanity on one side, gratitude on the other ; 
I ask you to whom you are indebted for this great, 
extraordinary, unexpected good fortune. You all 
answer with me. It is to the great man whose statue 
you behold." Throughout the whole speech, a perfect 
masterpiece of official composition, adulation came in 
like a chorus. The President in his turn uttered a 
similar eulogy : " Very few at the time," says Con- 
stant, who describes this occasion, " found this praise 
extravagant; possibly their opinions have changed 
since then." 

After the speeches, dinner was served to three hun- 
dred guests, followed by a magnificent ball. Though 
in the middle of the winter, there was a great show 
of shrubs and flowers. The Halls of Lucre tia and of 
the Reunion, in which there was dancing, were like 
one large bed of roses, laurels, lilacs, jonquils, lilies, 
and jasmine. 

Perhaps the finest of all the entertainments was 
that given to the Emperor and Empress by the mar- 
shals of the Empire in the Opera House. It cost each 
marshal ten thousand francs. The Opera House at 
that time was in the rue de Richelieu, where it had 



THE FESTIVITIES. 83 

been since 1794. (It was the one torn down during 
the Restoration, on account of the murder of the 
Duke of Berry, who was killed on the threshold.) 
By means of a floor placed level with the stage over 
the orchestra and the pit, there was made a magnifi- 
cent ball-room. Twenty-four chandeliers hung from 
the ceiling, and candelabra were set on each side of 
every box. The decorations consisted of silver gauze, 
and wreaths of flowers. The uniforms of the men 
and the dresses of the women were almost equally 
magnificent. The eyes of the spectators were dazzled 
by dresses trimmed with precious stones. Never had 
there been seen such profusion of light, flowers, per- 
fumes, and diamonds. In this magical setting, fash- 
ionable beauties, with their dresses worked with silver 
and gold foil, their turbans of Eastern stuffs, their 
jewels and ancient cameos, appeared like sultanas. It 
was a most sumptuous and fairy-like show. 

The marshals arrived at eight in the evening, the 
Empress at ten, the Emperor at eleven ; as he entered 
the ball-room, the applause was so violent that it was 
feared that the candles would be put out. A military 
march was played, and then there was a concert, clos- 
ing with the Abbe Rose's Vivat Imperator^ which had 
made such an impression on the Coronation Day. 
After the concert. Prince Louis Bonaparte, Marshal 
Murat, Eugene de Beauharnais, and Marshal Berthier 
opened the ball with the Princesses. The Emperor 
walked twice around the hall, as if he were reviewing 
troops. Then he sat down by the side of the Empress 



84 COURT OF THE EMPBESS JOSEPHINE. 

on a raised platform, and withdrew before the end of 
the ball. 

Besides all these entertainments there were the 
grand levees and concerts at the Tuileries. The Hall 
of the Marshals was an impressive sight on those 
evenings, filled, as it was, with young and pretty 
women, in gorgeous dresses, and with men resplen- 
dent with stars, epaulettes, feathered hats, and sword- 
belts set with diamonds. After the concert the 
company would go to the Gallery of Diana, where the 
supper-tables were set : that of the Empress, those of 
the Princesses, of the Lady of Honor, of the Lady of 
the Bedchamber, of the Ladies of the Palace. " All 
these tables," says the Duchess of Abrantes, "were 
occupied by women with roses on their heads, and 
smiles on their lips, and often with tears in their 
eyes ; for vanity, everywhere triumphant, holds its 
court especially at court. There, favor is everything, 
disgrace is everything. A chance word or glance of 
the Emperor or Empress is a blow and a serious one. 
What, then, must be the result of an invitation sent 
or withheld?" 

During the concert the Empress made up the sup- 
per-table ; that is to say, chose the women who were 
to sit at her table, commissioning her chamberlain to 
notify those she had selected. The Princesses did 
the same, and the officers of their households likewise 
informed the women whom they had chosen. There 
were but twelve places at the Empress's table ; eight 



THE FESTIVITIES. 85 

or ten at those of the Princesses. When the cham- 
berlams came to bring these most welcome invitations, 
there fluttered through the eight hundred or thou- 
sand women present at the concerts and grand levees 
an anxious emotion which amused observers. The 
aspect of the Gallery of Diana was most impressive. 
On the Empress's table shone a golden service amid 
glass and Sevres ware. During the supper the men 
strolled up and down the gallery, but as soon as the 
Emperor appeared, awe and fear appeared on every 
face. It seemed as if the times of Louis XIV. had 
returned, of which La Bruy^re said: "Nothing so 
disfigures certain courtiers as the presence of their 
Prince ; I can sometimes scarcely recognize them, so 
altered are their features, so degraded their faces. 
The proud and haughty ones are the most disturbed, 
for they change the most ; and the upright and mod- 
est man comes out best ; he has nothing to change." 
The Duchess of Abrantes, recalling the intimida- 
tion caused by Napoleon's approach, wrote : " Even 
those who nowadays talk about the Corsican with a 
great show of scorn, those very ones (I have seen 
them, and I am not the only one,) were the most timid 
before the very shadow of his hat." The women 
trembled even more. They dreaded the questions 
the Emperor might put to them, and, according to 
Madame de Remusat, there was not one who would 
not gladly have been anywhere else. During the First 
Empire, everything, even the festivities, wore a mili- 



8b COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

taiy air. The sovereign always had the air of a com- 
manding general. Discipline prevailed at a ball as 
well as in a camp, and the young men took part in 
those pleasures only to return with renewed zeal and 
courage to the battle-field. 



VIII. 

THE ETIQUETTE OF THE IMPEKIAL PALACE. 

BY the beginning of 1805 the court was definitely 
formed. After laborious studies on the part of 
a special commission, and long discussions in which 
Napoleon took as interested a part as he did in the 
preparation of the civil code, all the wheels of 
etiquette had been arranged, and the machinery 
worked with perfect regularity. The Emperor at- 
tached great importance to the subject, from both a 
political and a social point of view. In his eyes, eti- 
quette had the great advantage of drawing between 
him and those who had recently been his superiors, a 
distinct line of separation. He looked upon it as a 
useful tool of government, as an accompaniment of 
glory absolutely essential for a sovereign, especially 
for one of recent origin. He was very proud of his 
court, of the wealth it displayed, and of the vast 
results he obtained at a comparatively small expense, 
and at Saint Helena he liked to recall its agreeable 
memory. 

" The Emperor's court," we read in the Memorial^ 
" was in every respect much more magnificent than 

87 



88 COURT OF THE EMPBESS JOSEPHINE. 

anything that had been seen up to that time, and cost 
infinitely less. The suppression of abuses, order and 
regularity in the accounts, made the great difference. 
His hunting, with the exception of a few useless or 
absurd particulars, such as the use of falcons, was as 
splendid and as crowded as that of Louis XIV., and 
it cost only four hundred thousand francs a year, 
while the King's cost seven millions. It was the 
same way with the table ; Duroc's order and severity 
wrought wonders. Under the kings, the palaces 
were not permanently furnished ; the same furniture 
was transported from one palace to another; there 
were no accommodations for the people of the court ; 
every one had to provide for himself. Under him, 
however, there was no one in attendance, who, in the 
room allotted him, was not as comfortable as at home, 
or even more comfortable, so far as what was essential 
and proper was concerned." 

The court moved as smoothly as a well-drilled regi- 
ment. Napoleon would have shown no mercy to the 
slightest disregard of the rules he had himself drawn 
up after long meditation. The courtiers were expected 
to be as familiar with the code of etiquette as were 
the officers with the manual of arms. The Emperor 
noticed the minutest details, busied himself with 
everything, saw everything. There had been much 
more latitude at court under the old monarchy, and 
those of the old regime who entered the Emperor's 
court were soon wearied by the inflexible severity of 
its discipline. The court, moreover, was very splen- 



ETIQUETTE OF THE IMPEltlAL PALACE. 89 

did. The Faubourg Saint Germain brought to it 
its politeness and conversational charm. For his 
part, Napoleon speedily assumed the manners of a 
European sovereign, while preserving his martial 
character. He was at the same time Emperor and 
commander-in-chief. Yet the military element did 
not control his court ; the civil element was more 
powerful there than in other European courts, the 
Russian, for example. Napoleon would never have 
suffered in his presence the faintest sign of the fa- 
miliarity of the camp; every one who crossed the 
threshold of the Tuileries was compelled to pre- 
serve the manners, the bearing, the language of a 
courtier. 

The levees and couchees of the sovereign were 
restored as in the time of the Bourbons ; though 
under the monarchy they were real things, and a 
mere imitation under the Empire. These moments 
were not devoted to the petty details of toilette, but 
rather to receiving, morning and evening, those mem- 
bers of the civil and military household who had to 
receive his direct orders or enjoyed the right of " pay- 
ing their court at these privileged hours." At Saint 
Helena, Napoleon boasted that at the Tuileries he 
had suppressed in the matter of etiquette " all that 
was real and commonplace, and had substituted what 
was merely nominal and decorative." " A king," he 
said, " is not a natural product ; he is a result of civ- 
ilization. He does not exist nakedly, but only when 
dressed." 



90 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

Let us try to retrace the lines of etiquette as they 
existed in 1805, at the same time indicating the prin- 
cipal members of the Emperor's household and the 
nature of their duties. There were many separate 
duties, each under the control of a high officer of the 
Crown, with their provinces carefully defined and 
sedulously distinguished from one another. There 
were six high officers of the Crown: the Grand 
Almoner (Cardinal Fesch) ; the Grand Marshal of 
the Palace (General Duroc) ; the Grand Equerry 
(General de Caulaincourt) ; the Grand Chamberlain 
(M. de Talleyrand) ; the Grand Master of Ceremo- 
nies (M. de Segur). 

The colonels-general were : Marshal Davout, com- 
manding the foot grenadiers ; Marshal Soult, com- 
manding the chasseurs-a-pieds ; Marshal Bessieres, 
commanding the cavalry ; Marshal Mortier, com- 
manding the artillery and sailors. These colonels- 
general of the Imperial Guard formed part of the 
Emperor's household, and enjoyed the same preroga- 
tives as the high officers of the Crown. 

The Grand Almoner was the bishop of the court, 
wherever that might be. He gave the Emperor and 
his court a dispensation from fasting. He accom- 
panied him to church ceremonies and gave him his 
prayer-book. At grand dinners he said grace. He 
set free the prisoners whom the Emperor pardoned 
on certain holy days. 

The Grand Marshal of the palace had charge of 
the military command in the Imperial residences ; of 



ETIQUETTE OF THE IMPEBIAL PALACE. 91 

their maintenance, decoration, and furnishing ; of the 
assignment of rooms, the supply of food, the heating, 
lights, silver, and livery. He commanded the detach- 
ments of the Imperial Guard on duty in the Imperial 
palaces. He gave orders to beat the reveille and the 
tattoo, to open and shut the palace gates. When the 
Emperor was with the army, or travelling, he had to 
find him quarters. In 1805 the Grand Marshal's 
budget amounted to 2,338,167 francs. In 1806 it 
reached the sum of 2,770,841 francs. There were 
four tables in the palace, — that of the officers and 
ladies-in-waiting, that of the officers of the guard and 
the pages, that of the ladies who read to the Empress 
and introduced visitors. 

The Grand Marshal had under his orders the pre- 
fects of the palace ; M. de Lu9ay, M. de Bausset, and M. 
de Saint Didier. They had charge of the provisions, 
lighting, heating, the silver, and the liveries. They 
inspected the kitchens, pantries, cellars, and linen- 
closet to see that everything was in order. There 
was always one prefect of the palace on duty for a 
week at a time. He also carried word to the Emperor 
and the Empress when a meal was ready, conducted 
them to the table, and back to their rooms after- 
wards. 

The Grand Marshal had also under his orders the 
governor of the palaces and the marshals ; these last 
were charged with choosing apartments for the 
Emperor and the Empress, and quarters for their 
suite in the Imperial residences and on journeys. 



92 COURT OF THE EMPBESS JOSEPHINE. 

They had for assistants the quartermasters of the 
palace. 

The Master of the Hounds had charge of all 
the coursing and hunting in the woods and forests 
belonging to the Crown. 

The Grand Equerry looked after the stables, the 
pages, the couriers, and the Emperor's arms ; he also 
had the supervision of the horses at Saint Cloud. 
He walked just before the Emperor when he came 
forth from his rooms to ride, gave him his whip, held 
his reins and the left stirrup. He was responsible 
for the good condition of the carriages, the intelli- 
gence and skill of the huntsmen, coachman, and the 
postilions, the safety and the training of the horses. 
In a procession, or on a journey, he was in the car- 
riage just before the Emperor's. He accompanied 
the Emperor to the army, and if the sovereign's 
horse was killed or disabled, it was his duty to pick 
the Emperor up and to offer him his own horse. 

The Grand Equerry had four equerries under his 
orders : Colonels Durosnel, Defrance, Lefebvre, Vatier, 
and two equerries in ordinary, M. de Canisy and M. 
de Villoutrey. An equerry on duty always accompa- 
nied the Emperor, whether he was driving or riding. 
If, the Emperor drove, the equerry on duty rode by 
the right-hand door of the carriage, unless the colonel- 
general on duty happened to be on horseback, in 
which case the equerry rode on the other side. The 
equerry on duty walked before the Emperor when 
he left or returned to his apartment; he never left 



ETIQUETTE OF THE IMPERIAL PALACE. 93 

the waiting-room during the day, and slept in the 
palace. 

The pages, whose governor was General Gardane, 
were also under the orders of the Grand Equerry. 
They were appointed when between fourteen and 
sixteen, and held the position until they were 
eighteen. At grand dinners and in the apartments 
of honor, they waited on the Emperor and Empress, 
and on the Princes and Princesses. When the 
Emperor rode out, one followed on horseback ; if he 
drove, the page got up behind the carriage. When 
the sovereign went forth in his state-coach, as many 
pages as possible clambered up behind it and upon 
the box by the side of the coachman. At receptions, 
and on days when mass was said, there were eight 
pages on duty. They stood in a row when the 
Emperor returned to his apartment, and walked 
before him when he left it. If the Emperor had not 
returned to the palace by nightfall, the pages would 
wait at the entrance-door to walk before him, carrying 
lights. The pages, too, served as messengers, and 
when they carried letters of the Emperor, the doors 
were thrown wide open before them. 

The impression produced by the pages, when they 
were first on duty at the Tuileries in 1804, is thus 
described by a contemporary: "They have been 
much noticed, especiall}^ in the evening, by the 
ladies. The fact is, they are all good-looking boys, 
particularly the oldest ; they liave good figures and 
wear a new and becoming uniform, and since they 



94 COTIJRT OF THE EMPnESS JOSEPHINE. 

are in the service of a severe master, and of a most 
kind and indulgent mistress, they have to be very 
attentive and considerate. Their full dress differs 
from liver}^ only by the lace of their coat which imi- 
tates embroidery, by the knot on their left shoulder, 
and by the 'lace frill above their waistcoat. Besides, 
in full dress they wear, like footmen, a green coat 
with all the seams laced with gold, gold shoe-buckles, 
a hat with a white feather, but they have no sword. 
Perhaps this is well, for they would be playing with 
it. They have all been chosen among the sons of 
generals of divisions and of high dignitaries of the 
Empire." 

At Saint Helena Napoleon said, speaking of the 
pages and the Imperial stables : " The Emperor's 
stables cost him three million francs ; the horses cost 
three thousand francs apiece per year. A page, from 
six to eight thousand francs ; this last was perhaps 
the heaviest expense of the palace ; but there was 
every reason to be satisfied with the education they 
received, and with the care taken with them. All 
the first families of the Empire sought to get the 
places for their sons ; and they were right." 

The Grand Chamberlain had charge of all the 
honors of the palace, the regular audiences, the 
oaths taken in the Emperor's study, the admissions, 
the levees and couchees, the festivities, receptions, 
theatrical performances, the music, the boxes of the 
Emperor and Empress at the differsnt theatres, the 
Emperor's wardrobe, his library ; he also looked after 
the ushers and valets de chambre. 



ETIQUETTE OF THE IMPERIAL PALACE. 95 

The Grand Chamberlain had under his orders 
(tliis refers to 1805), a First Chamberlain, M. de 
Remusat, and thirteen chamberlains : MM. d'Arberg, 
A. de Talleyrand, de Latnrbie, de Brigode, de Viry, 
de Thiard, Gamier de Lariboisiere, d'Hedouville, de 
Croy, de Mercy-Argenteau, de Zuidwyck, de Tour- 
non, de Bondy. In the Imperial Almanack of 1805, 
these men are not named with their titles, even 
the de is in all cases omitted or joined with the 
name, thus ; M. Rimusat, M. Darberg, A. Talley- 
rand, Laturbie, Tournon, Dethiard, Deviry, Hedou- 
ville, etc., etc. 

The chamberlain on duty was called the chamber- 
lain of the day. At the palace there were always 
two chamberlains of the day, one for the grand 
apartment, the other for the Emperor's apartment of 
honor. They were relieved every week. The prin- 
cipal duties of the chamberlains were to have charge 
of introductions to the Emperor, to give orders to the 
ushers and valets de chambre, to see that tlie orders 
about the receptions were carried out, and to attend 
upon the sovereign's levees and couchees. 

Either a chamberlain or one of the Emperor's aides- 
de-camp served as Master of the Wardrobe. He had 
charge of the clothes, the linen, the lace, the boots 
and shoes, and of the ribbons of the Legion of Honor. 
If he assisted at the Emperor's toilet, he had to 
hand him his coat, fasten his ribbon or collar, give 
him his sword, hat, and gloves, in the Grand Chamber- 
lain's absence. 



96 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

The Grand Master of Ceremonies determined ques- 
tions of rank and precedence, drcAV up and enforced 
the rules for j^ublic, formal ceremonies, for the recep- 
tion of sovereigns and hereditary princes, and foreign 
ambassadors and ministers. 

The colonels-general of the Imperial Guard and the 
Emperor's aides also made part of the household. 

At ceremonies when the Emperor was in his state- 
coach, there were two colonels-general of the Guard 
at the left door. When he rode, all four followed 
close behind. The Grand Equerry, or his substitute, 
had a place among them. 

The colonel-general on duty received directly the 
Emperor's orders relative to the different require- 
ments of the Imperial Guard, and transmitted them 
directly to the other colonels-general. He was quar- 
tered in the palace, in preference to any other officer 
of the Crown, and as near as possible to the Emperor's 
apartment, whether at the residence or when travel- 
ling. In the field he slept in the Emperor's tent. 

Napoleon had twelve aides-de-camp. The one on 
duty was called the aide-de-camp of the day. He 
always had a horse saddled or a carriage harnessed 
ready in the stable, to carry any messages the Em- 
peror might give. As soon as the Emperor had gone 
to bed, the aide-de-camp on duty was especially 
entrusted with guarding him, and he slept in an 
adjoining room. In the field the Emperor's aides 
served as chamberlains. 

There were two distinct elements in the Emj^jeror's 



ETIQUETTE OF THE IMPERIAL PALACE. 97 

liouseholcl: the military, and the aristocratic. Some 
men owed their position entirely to their merit ; others 
entirely to their birth ; these were both patriots of 
1792 and emigres, bnt it must be confessed the Im- 
perial Almanack shows that the aristocratic element 
was the more prominent. Napoleon, though certain 
writers persist in representing him as the croAvned 
champion of democracy and the emperor of the 
lower classes, had a more aristocratic court than 
Louis XVIII. He Avas more impressed by great man- 
ners than were the old kings. Even after he had 
been betrayed, abandoned, denied, insulted Ijy the 
aristocracy, he had a weakness for it. In 1816 he 
said : " The democracy may become furious ; it has a 
heart ; it can be moved. The aristocracy always re- 
mains cold and never pardons." Yet even after this, 
he blamed himself for not having done enough for 
the French nobility. " I see clearly," he Avent on, 
"that I did either too much or too little for the 
Faubourg Saint Germain. I did enough to make 
the opposition dissatisfied, and not enough to win 
it to my side. I ought to have secured the emigres 
Avhen they returned. The aristocracy Avould have 
soon adored me ; and I needed it ; it is the true, the 
only support of a monarchy, its moderator, its lever, 
its resisting point ; Avithout it, the state is like a 
ship Avithout a rudder, a balloon in mid-air. Noav, 
the strength, the charm of the aristocracy lies in its 
antiquity, the onl}- thing I could not create." It 
must be confessed that from an old Republican gen- 



98 COUBT OF THE EMPBES8 JOSEPHINE. 

eral, for the man who had sent Augereau to execute 
the coup d'etat of the 18th Fructidor, and who the 
13th Vendemiaire, from the steps of the Church 
of Saint Roch had crushed the Paris conserva- 
tives, this was a very aristocratic way of talking, 
reminding one of the old regime. In 1816 Napoleon 
said again: "Old and corrupt nations cannot be 
governed like the virtuous peoples of antiquity. For 
one man nowadays who would sacrifice everything 
for the public welfare, there are thousands who take 
no thought of anything except their own interests, 
pleasures, and vanity. Now to pretend to regenerate 
a people off-hand would be madness. The workman's 
genius is shown by his knowing how to make use of 
the materials under his hand, and that is the secret 
of the restoration of all the forms of the monarchy, 
of the return of titles, crosses, and ribbons." 

The old Republicans of 1796, who used to denounce 
kings, "drunk with blood and pride," would not have 
readily recognized their old general under the golden 
canopies of the Tuileries, where he dined in state. 
His table stood on a platform, beneath a canopy, and 
there were two chairs, one for himself, the other for 
the Empress. As he entered the banquet-hall, he 
was preceded by a swarm of pages, masters-of-cere- 
monies, and prefects of the palace ; he was followed 
by the colonel-general on duty, the Grand Cham- 
berlain, the Grand Equerry, and the Grand Almoner. 
The Grand Almoner advanced to the table and 
blessed the dinner. A general of division, the 



ETIQUETTE OF THE IMPERIAL PALACE, 99 

Grand Equerry Caulaiucourt, offered a chair to 
Bonaparte. Another general of division, Duroc, the 
Grand Marshal of the Palace, handed him his nap- 
kin and poured out his wine. Not merely high dig- 
nitaries, but the Princes of the Empire themselves, 
deemed it an honor to wait upon him as servants. If 
a Prince of the Imperial family happened to be in 
the Emperor's room, any article of dress that he 
asked for was given by the chamberlain-in- waiting 
to the Prince, and by the Prince to the Emperor. 
The time of the Sun King seemed to have returned. 
The Imperial apartment at the Tuileries consisted 
of two distinct parts, the grand state apartments and 
the Emperor's private apartment. The state apart- 
ment contained the following rooms : 1, a concert 
hall (the Hall of the Marshals) ; 2, a first drawing- 
room (under Napoleon III. called the Drawing-room 
of the First Consul) ; 3, a second drawing-room (that 
of Apollo) ; 4, a throne room ; 5, a drawing-room of 
the Emperor (afterwards called that of Louis XIV.) ; 
6, a gallery (of Diana). The private apartment was 
itself composed of the apartment of honor, containing 
a hall of the guards and a first and second drawing- 
room, and an interior apartment containing a bed- 
room, a study, an office, and topographic bureau. 
The ushers had charge of the apartment of honor; 
the valets de chambre of the other. A rigid etiquette 
determined the right of entrance into the different 
rooms composing the state apartment, according to a 
carefull}^ studied system. The pages were authorized 



100 COURT OF THE EMPEESS JOSEPHINE. 

to enter the Hall of the Marshals ; members of the 
household of the Emperor and Empress could enter 
the first and second drawing-rooms ; the Princes and 
Princesses of the Imperial family, the high officers of 
the Crown, the presidents of the great bodies of the 
state, had admission to the throne room. Men and 
women had to bow to the throne whenever they passed 
it. The Emperor and the Empress alone had the 
right of entering the Emperor's drawing-room. No 
one else could go in except by the Emperor's summons. 

An absurd importance was attached to these trivial- 
ities, to these empty nothings, to the right of entering 
this room or that, of walking before this or that per- 
son, of handing the Emperor this or that article of 
dress. "An honest, reasonable man," said Madame 
de R^musat, "is often overcome with shame at the 
pleasures and pains of a courtier's life, and yet it is 
hard to escape from them. A ribbon, a slight differ- 
ence of dress, the right of way through a door, the 
entrance into such and such a drawing-room, are the 
occasion, contemptible in appearance, of a host of 
ever new emotions. Vain is the struggle to acquire 
indifference to them. ... In vain do the mind and 
the reason revolt against such an employment of 
human faculties ; however dissatisfied one is with 
one's self, it is necessary to humiliate one's self before 
every one and to desert the court, or else to consent 
to take seriously all the nonsense that fills the air 
and breathes there." 

Vanity of human events ! What has become of 



ETIQUETTE OF THE IMPERIAL PALACE. 101 

these drawing-rooms of the Tuileries, which it was 
such an honor to enter, which were trod with such 
respectful awe ? Look at the lamentable ruins of 
this ill-fated palace. There may still be seen, black- 
ened with petroleum and stained by the rain, some of 
those drawing-rooms, once so brilliant, once thronged 
Avith an eager and showy crowd. What an instruc- 
tive spectacle ! When is one more urgently reminded 
of the emptiness of human glory and greatness ? This 
nothingness fills the soul with melancholy when one 
thinks that soon these crumbling fragments Avill be 
razed and that soon one can say with the poet : The 
ruins themselves have perished, Etiam periey^e ruinae !^ 

1 The ruins have since been removed. — Tr. 



IX. 



THE HOUSEHOLD OF THE EMPRESS. 

WE have just studied the civil and the military 
household of the Emperor in 1805 ; let us 
now study the Empress's household at the same 
period. 

The Empress's First Almoner was a bishop, a great 
lord, Ferdinand de Rohan. Her Maid of Honor was 
a relative of her first husband, the Duchess de La 
Rochefoucauld, called in the Imperial Almanack of 
1805 simply Madame Chastul^ de La Rochefoucauld. 
She was short and deformed, but distinguished for 
her intelligence, tact, and wit, void of ambition, with 
no taste for intrigue, who only reluctantly accepted 
the position of Maid of Honor, and often wanted to 
hand in her resignation. The Lady of the Bedcham- 
ber was Madame de Lavalette, a Beauharnais, an 
able and affectionate woman, who immortalized her- 
self, in the early days of the Restoration, by saving 
her husband's life by her heroism. 

To the four Ladies of the Palace at the beginning 
of the Empire, Madame de Lu9ay, Madame d© 
R^musat, Madame de Talhouet, Madame de Lauris- 

102 



THE HOUSEHOLD OF THE EMPllESS. 103 

ton, were added thirteen other ladies : Madame 
Duch^tel, Madame de Seran, Madame de Colbert, 
Madame Savaiy, Madame Octave de Segur, Madame 
de Turenne, Madame de Montalivet, Madame de 
Bouill^, Madame de Vaux, Madame de Marescot. 

The Maid of Honor was for the Empress what the 
Grand Chamberlain was for the Emperor. The Lady 
of the Bedchamber's duties corresponded to those of 
the Keeper of the Wardrobe. The Ladies of the 
Palace were, so to speak, female chamberlains. 

" We were all," said the Duchess of Abrantes, " at 
that time radiant with a sort of glory wdiich women 
seek as eagerly as men do theirs, that of elegance 
and beauty. Among the young women composing 
the court of the Empress and that of the Princesses 
it would have been hard to find a single ill-favored 
woman, and there were very many whose beauty 
made, with no exaggeration, the greatest ornament 
of the festivities held every day in that fairy-like 
time." 

All the Ladies of the Palace were young, and 
almost all Avere remarkable for their beauty. Among 
the most conspicuous was Madame Ney, a niece of 
Madame Campan; Madame Lannes, whose face re- 
called the most charming pictures of Raphael, and 
above all, the wife of an already aged Councillor of 
State, Madame Duchatel (whose son was Minister of 
the Literior in the reign of Louis Philippe, and 
whose grandson was Ambassador of the Republic at 
Vienna). The Duchess of Abrantds thus describes 



104 COUET OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

this famous beauty : " There is one woman in the 
Imperial court who made her appearance in society 
shortly before the coronation, whose portrait is drawn 
in all the contemporary memoirs, especially in those 
written by a woman, and that is Madame Duchatel. 
Madame Duchatel would not serve as a model for a 
sculptor, because her features lack the regularity 
which his art requires. The indefinable charm of 
her face, a charm which words are unable to convey, 
lay in dark blue eyes, with long, silken lashes, in 
a delicate, gracious, refined smile, which disclosed 
teeth of ivory whiteness, and, moreover, beautiful 
light hair, small hands and feet, a general elegance 
which matched a really remarkable mind. All these 
things formed a combination which first attracted and 
then attached every one to her." 

Josephine's First Chamberlain, in 1805, was the 
General of Division Nansouty ; the chamberlain who 
introduced the ambassadors was M. de Beaumont; 
there were four ordinary chamberlains, MM. d'Au- 
busson-Lafeuillade, de Galard-B^arn, de Coutomer; 
de Gavre ; a First Equerry, Senator de Harville ; two 
equerries. Colonel Fowler and General Bonardy de 
Saint Sulpice ; a private secretary, M. Deschamps. 
The Council of the Empress's household was com- 
posed of the Maid of Honor, the Lady of the Bed- 
chamber, the First Chamberlain, and the First 
Equerry. The private secretary was also the secre- 
tary of the Council. The Chief Steward of the 
household was also a member. 



THE HOUSEHOLD OF THE EMPRESS. 105 

The Lady of the Bedchamber had under her orders 
a tirst woman of the bedchamber, Madame Aubert, 
who had whole charge of the wardrobe. Madame 
Saint-Hilaire hekl this place under Josephine, as 
Madame Campan had done under Marie Antoinette. 
Madame Saint-Hilaire 's duties consisted in super- 
vising the chamberwork, in receiving the Empress's 
orders about the hours of her rising, and of her morn- 
ing and evening toilet. The first woman of the Bed- 
chamber had what were called the honors of the ser- 
vice when the Maid of Honor and the Lady of the 
Bedchamber were absent. The Empress had also 
ushers and women who discharged the same duties, 
six ordinary chambermaids, a reader, the beautiful 
Madame Gazani ; four ordinary valets de chambre, 
and two footmen, trusted, men always in the ante- 
chamber. The ushers, who remained without the 
drawing-room where the Empress was, never opened 
both the doors to their full width except for the 
Princes and Princesses of the Luperial family ; and 
they could not leave their posts except to ask the 
Maid of Honor the names of those who were Avaiting 
«to be presented. There Avere tAVO pages in the Em- 
press's service ; the older carried the train of her 
dress Avhen she left her apartments, and got in or out 
of a carriage ; the other Avalked before her. 

The Empress's apartment consisted of an apart- 
ment of honor and an inner apartment. The first 
consisted of an ante-chamber, the first drawingf-room, 
the second draAving-room, the dining-room, the music- 



106 COURT OF THE EMPBESS JOSEPHINE. 

room ; the other, of the bedroom, the library, dress- 
ing-room, boudoir, bath-room. The entrance to the 
Empress's apartment was controlled by etiquette like 
that to the Emperor's. 

Josephine played her part as sovereign as easily 
as if she had been born on the steps of the throne. 
'' One of her charms," says the Duchess of Abrantes, 
" was not merely her graceful figure, but the way she 
held her head, and the gracious dignity with which 
she walked and turned. I have had the honor of 
being presented to many real princesses, as they are 
called in the Faubourg Saint Germain, and I can 
truly say that I have never seen one more imposing 
than Josephine. She combined elegance and majesty. 
Never did any queen so grace a throne without hav- 
ing been trained to it." 

Josephine had all the qualities that are attractive 
in a sovereign : affabilit}^, gentleness, kindliness, gen- 
erosity. She had a way of convincing every one of 
her personal interest. She had an excellent memory, 
and surprised those with whom she talked by the 
exactness with which she recalled the past, even to 
details they had themselves nearly forgotten. The 
sound of her gentle, penetrating, and sympathetic 
voice added to the courtesy and charm of her words. 
Every one listened to her with pleasure ; she spoke 
with grace and listened courteously. She wanted no 
one to go away from her annoyed. She always ap- 
peared to be doing a kindness, and thus inspired af- 
fection and gratitude. Her courtiers and her suite 



THE HOUSEHOLD OF THE EMPRESS. 107 

were her friends. Madame de Remusat, who was 
never too favorable, was forced to recognize the charm 
which Josephine exercised over the court by her tact, 
intelligence, and dignity. " The EmjDress," she says, 
" is enchanted to be surrounded by a large suite, and 
it gratifies her vanity. Her success in attaching 
Madame de La Rochefoucauld to her person, her 
pleasure in counting MM. d'Aubusson, de Lafeuillade 
among her chamberlains, Madame d'Arbry, Madame 
de S^gur, and the wives of the marshals among the 
ladies of the palace, turned her head a little, but even 
this feminine joy did not lessen her usual gracious- 
ness ; she always succeeded in maintaining her rank, 
even when most deferential to those men and women 
who lent it a new lustre by their brilliant names." 
She was very kind, extremely soft-hearted, and always 
overwhelming her companions with attentions and re- 
gards. Mademoiselle Avrillon, her reader, says : " I 
do not believe that there ever lived a woman with a 
better character, or with a less changeable disposition." 
She never dared to utter a word of blame or reproach. 
" If one of her ladies," said Constant, the Emperor's 
valet de chambre, " ever gave her cause for dissatis- 
faction, the onl}^ punishment she inflicted was to 
maintain absolute silence for one, two, three days, 
a week, more or less, according to the seriousness 
of the case. Well ! this punishment, apparently so 
slight, was for most of them very severe. The Em- 
press knew so well how to make herself beloved ! " 
Her only fault was extravagance. She had an un- 



108 COUET OF THE EMPBESS JOSEPHINE. 

bounded love of luxury and dress. The jewel-case 
which had belonged to Marie Antoinette was too 
small for Josephine. One day when she wanted to 
show some ladies all her jewels, a great table had to 
be arranged to hold the cases, and, since that was not 
enough, much more of the furniture was covered by 
them. Josephine had the fault that accompanies this 
quality, for generous persons are commonly lavish. 
Her extravagant expenditures came from her kindli- 
ness. She had not the heart to dismiss a tradesman 
without buying something of him, and it never en- 
tered her head to try to beat him down. Often she 
bought for vast sums things she did not want, simply 
to oblige the dealers. There was no limit to her liber- 
ality. She would have liked to own all the treasures 
of the earth in order to give them all away. She 
sought for opportunities for alms-giving. Many of 
the emigres lived entirely on her bounty. She was 
always in active correspondence with the sisters of 
charity. She was the Providence of the poor, and 
did good with delicacy, tact, and discretion. Giving 
is not all ; the art lies in knowing how to give. She 
seemed to be the debtor of those to whom she made 
gifts. Naturally, with this disposition, she got into 
debt. But Napoleon was there to help her ; and since 
he was economical by nature, he grew angry and 
scolded his extravagant wife, and ended by paying. 

In fact. Napoleon could refuse Josephine nothing, 
and she was really the only woman who had any 
influence over him. If he opposed her, she had an 



THE HOUSEHOLD OF THE EMPRESS. 109 

infallible resource in her tears. She knew thoroughly 
her husband's character. She knew how to speak to 
that mind and heart. She busied herself witli seek- 
ing what could please, with divining his wishes, with 
anticipating his slightest desires. If he was the least 
ailing or annoyed she was literally at his feet, and 
then he could not live without her. He felt that 
when misfortune came Josephine alone would be able 
to console him. She had brought him happiness with 
her gentleness, her tenderness, her devotion ; she had 
well deserved to receive the crown from his hands. 



X. 

kapoleon's gallantries. 

JOSEPHINE appeared to have every wish sat- 
isfied ; her good fortune exceeded her wildest 
dreams ; never had a more wonderful romance actu- 
ally happened, and yet the Empress of the French, 
the Queen of Italy, was not happy. A cruel passion 
which brings no pleasures, but only cruel sufferings, 
disturbed her happiness and tormented her heart. 
This passion, jealousy, which had tortured Napoleon 
in the early days of his wedded life, now Josephine 
in her turn had to endure with all its keen anguish. 
She felt that for her, a woman of forty-one, to hold 
fast the affections of a man of thirty-five, covered with 
glory and full of charm, was a difficult task ; but this re- 
flection, far from consoling her, only disturbed her the 
more, and she made desperate efforts to triumph in an 
almost hopeless contest. As Avas said by Mademoiselle 
Avrillon, her reader, she seemed not to understand 
that if the highest rank is a safeguard for a woman, 
because few men are bold enough to pursue her, the 
same is not true of a sovereign whose glory dazzles 
the inexperience of the young, and whose slightest 
attention arouses coquetry and flatters vanity. 

no 



NAPOLEON'S GALLANTBIES. Ill 



Josephine had not a moment's peace. In the hope 
of pleasing her, many women of the court, who were, 
so to speak, on the watch for the Emperor's attentions, 
hastened to torture her with their interested revehx- 
tions. For several years now her beauty had been 
fading. Napoleon, on the other hand, had never been 
better looking. His health, which formerly had 
been delicate, had much improved. He had grown 
stouter, and this was very becoming. His head was 
like that of a Caesar. Full of self-confidence, fortu- 
nate, flattered on every side, at the height of power, 
he imagined that in love, as in war, he had but to 
appear to say, veni^ vidi, viei^ " I came, I saw, I con- 
quered." Many of the beauties of the time did their 
best to confirm him in this good opinion of himself, 
and as Madame de Remusat says of him, he in his 
court was not unlike the Grand Turk in his harem. 

" The Emperor," we read in Constant's Memoirs, 
"used to say that a good man was to be known by the 
way he treated his wife, his children, and his ser- 
vants. He added that immorality was the most dan- 
gerous vice a sovereign could have, because it estab- 
lished a precedent for his subjects. What he meant 
by immorality, was giving scandalous publicity to 
relations which should have been kept secret ; these 
relations he was by no means disposed to refuse when 
they presented themselves before him." The faith- 
ful valet de chambre goes on in an attempt to 
defend his master: " Others perhaps would have suc- 
cumbed oftener. Heaven forbid that I should under- 



112 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

take to apologize for liim ; I will even acknowledge 
that lie did not always practise what he preached, but 
it was none the less a good deal for a sovereign to 
hide his distractions from the public, to prevent 
scandal, and, what is worse imitation ; and from his 
wife, to save her pain." 

Napoleon was by no means so indifferent to women 
as he professed to be. He was averse to being ruled 
by them, but he was far from being insensible to 
their charms. Opposition exasperated him; all his 
caprices found many obsequious allies ready to fur- 
ther his suit, and more than one woman made a deep, 
if brief, impression upon him. His disdain of woman 
has, we are sure, been much exaggerated. At Saint 
Helena he declaimed against women, but his remarks 
were mere paradoxes, not meant to be taken seri- 
ously. 

Count Las Cases, in the Memorial, reports these 
remarks of the Emperor to the ladies who shared his 
captivity. " We Occidentals," he said, with a smile 
full of malice, " have spoiled women by treating them 
too well. We have made the mistake of raising them 
almost to an equality with ourselves. The Orientals 
showed more intelligence and justice : they declared 
they were men's property ; and, in fact, nature has 
made them our slaves, and it is only by our whimsi- 
calness that they presume to be our sovereigns ; they 
abuse their advantages to mislead and control us. 
For one who inspires us to our good there are a hun- 
dred who make us do stupid things." Then he went 



ISfAPOLEOJS^'S GALLANTRIES. 113 

Oil to praise polygamy in a very michivalrous and 
unsentimental way, saying ironically : ^' What cause 
of complaint do you have, after all? Have we not 
acknowledged that you have a soul? You know 
that there are philosophers who have weighed it. 
Do you claim equality ? But that is absurd ; women 
are our property, we are not theirs ; for she gives us 
children, men give them none. So she is his prop- 
erty, as a fruit-tree is a gardener's property. Nothing 
but a lack of judgment, of common sense, and a 
defective education, can make a w^oman think that 
she is her husband's equal. And there is nothing 
degrading in the difference ; each sex has its quali- 
ties and its duties : your qualities are beauty, grace, 
charm; your duties are dependence and submission." 

Napoleon was often malicious with women ; often 
he teased them; but at heart he honored faithful 
wives and good mothers. His ideas were far more 
moral than those of the men of the Directory, and his 
court was far purer than that of the kings of France. 
We will add that Josephine was the only woman he 
ever loved for a long time and seriously. The others 
appealed to his senses, not to his heart. 

Fortunately for herself, Josephine had a shallow 
character ; her impressions were keen, but evanescent. 
The pleasures of sovereignty outweighed the griefs. 
She felt that the crown was heavy at times, but it 
adorned her and kept her young; and in spite of the 
jealous}^ it gave rise to, the court satisfied her vanity 
and brought her sufficient consolation. To the satis- 



114 COURT OF THF. F2IPBESS JOSEPHINE. 

faction of her pride she found another purer and 
more lasting emotion, which she valued more, in the 
opportunity of doing good. She had, besides, passed 
through so many vicissitudes in her life that nothing 
could surprise her, and her soul, accustomed to suffer- 
ing, was prepared for the most violent emotions, the 
most terrible anguish. She wept readily, but her 
tears were soon dried ; the rainbow followed close 
upon the storm, and Josephine would smile through 
her tears. 



XI. 

THE POPE AT THE TUILERIES. 

WHILE Napoleon, proud in the possession of his 
new empire, was exhibiting at the Tuileries 
his vast power and grandeur, the same palace was in- 
habited by a holy old man, whose humility presented 
a marked contrast with the conqueror's haughty 
spirit. Pius VII., who was quartered in the Pavilion 
of Flora, led the life of an anchorite, with all the 
modesty and piety of an old monk, fasting every day 
as in his convent, and edifying even the impious by 
the nimbus that shone around his pale and mystic 
face. It was impossible to approach this worthy 
Vicar of Christ without a filial feeling of tenderness. 
The crimes of the French Pevolution — the massacre 
or the execution of the priests, the profanation of the al- 
tars, the persecutions and blasphemies — had imprinted 
the stamp of melancholy on his face. It was easy to 
see that he lamented the barbarities of the times, and 
that his life had been full of anguish. He embodied 
all the sufferings of the Church. With his ascetic 
air, his deep-set eye, his complexion as pallid as ivory, 
his white robes tinged with red, the Sovereign Pontiff 

115 



116 COUBT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

had in his whole person something strange and im- 
posing. He occupied the apartment on the first floor 
of the Pavilion of Flora, where Madame Elisabeth 
had lived from October, 1789, to August 10, 1792. 
The Abbe Proyart, the author of the letter to the 
prisoner of the Temple, came to offer the Pope a 
copy of this same life of Madame Louise of France, 
Avhich he had long since offered to the sister of 
Louis XVI. 

" I am living here," said Pius VIL, "in the apart- 
ments of another saint." What singular vicissitudes ! 
The same place occupied in turn by Madame Elis- 
abeth, the members of the Committee of Public 
Safety, and by the Vicar of Christ ! 

The Pope had been very anxious before he started 
for Paris. His fears were so great that just as he 
was leaving Pome, with a presentiment of the cap- 
tivity that awaited him, he had left his abdication 
in the hands of Cardinal Consalvi, in case he should 
suffer any violence during his journey. It was only 
with trembling and prayer that he had set foot on 
the volcanic soil of France, which, from a distance, 
seemed alive with impiety and terror. The unfail- 
ing respect with which he had been treated had 
comforted him somewhat. Whenever he visited a 
church, the Parisians followed him with mingled 
curiosity, sympathy, and veneration : they knelt to 
him as he passed them, and received with all deco- 
rum his apostolic benediction. Every day a large 
crowd gathered under his windows. He had found 



THE POPE AT THE TillLElilES. 117 

his rooms arranged and furnished like those he occu- 
pied at the Vatican, and he had been very grateful 
for this, wliich he called a really filial attention. 

General de Segur, at that time captain and aide of 
the Grand Marshal of the Palace, was entrusted with 
guarding the Pope's person. He says in his Memoirs : 
" The same attention and respect was shown to the 
Pope as to the Emperor himself. His rooms had been 
so arranged and furnished as to recall Rome so far 
as possible, and to suit his tastes. As for Napoleon, 
we all noticed his ever gentle and grateful gaiety, 
and his filial and affectionate deference to his guest. 
When the Holy Father gave his blessing from his 
window, and more especially at his audiences in the 
gallery of the Louvre, which were always crowded, 
precautions were taken against any outbreak of the 
indiscretion or levity to which the French are prone. 
We saw the atheist Lalande himself fall at the Pon- 
tiff's feet and kiss his slipper. In the public build- 
ings which the Pope honored with his presence he 
was received as a sovereign. No one dared to betray 
more curiosity than piety ; and it often happened to 
me to see this real saint, the successor of the Apos- 
tles, Avhose venerable face bore the stamp of the 
serenest gentleness, so frugal, simple, and austere for 
himself alone, and so kindly indulgent to others, 
deeply moved by the intense and holy impression he 
made." 

Every day the long gallerj^ of the Louvre was 
filled with two rows of men and Avomen who had 



118 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

come to ask his blessing. Preceded by the governor 
of the Louvre, and followed by the Italian cardinals 
and nobles of his houochold, Pius VII. advanced 
slowly between the two lines of the faithful, often 
stopping to place his hand on some child's head, to 
say some kind words to its mother, and to offer his 
ring to be kissed. One day, when he was surrounded 
by a crowd of prostrate and respectful people, he saw 
a man whose worn face bore traces of irreligious 
passion, who was moving away as if to escape the 
apostolic benediction. The Holy Father approached 
him, and said gently, " Do not run away ; an old 
man's blessing has never done au}^ one any harm." 
This remark spread through Paris and made a most 
favorable impression. Pius YII. was not only re- 
spected, but, if we may use the worldly phrase, he 
became the fashion. Dealers in rosaries and chaplets 
made much money all that winter. In January alone 
a shopkeeper in the rue Saint Denis who sold those 
articles is said to have cleared forty thousand francs. 
All who approached the Pope had chaplets blessed 
for themselves, their relatives, and friends in Paris 
and the provinces. " The prolonged stay of the Holy 
Father," says Bourriemie, " was not without influ- 
ence in the return to religious ideas, so great was 
the respect inspired by the Pope's gentle appearance 
and kindly manners. When the time came for him 
to be persecuted, it would have been desirable that 
Pius VII. had never come to Paris, for it was impos- 
sible to look upon him otherwise than as a man whose 
holy gentleness was a matter of notoriety." 



TILE POPE AT THE TUILERIES. 119 

At Saint Helena, Napoleon spoke thus of this ven- 
erable Pope: "He Avas really a lamb, a thoroughly 
good and upright man, whom I greatly esteem and 
love, and who, I am sure, does not wholly hate me." 

It has been asserted that the Pope made such an 
impression in Paris that the Emperor felt for the 
august old man a sort of secret jealousy. But even 
granting, Avhat is by no means certain, that he suf- 
fered from this, he had at least skill to conceal it. 
Always the Pope was overwhelmed with flattering 
attentions. The President of the Legislative Body, 
M. de Fontanes, said to him November 30, 1804: 
" Everything else has changed ; religion alone knows 
no change. It sees the families of kings, and those of 
subjects, perish ; but resting on the ruins of thrones, 
it ever admires the successive manifestations of the 
eternal designs and obeys them Avitli confidence. 
Never has the universe beheld a more imposing 
sight, never have its people received more important 
lessons. This is no longer the time of rivalry between 
the priesthood and the Empire. They have joined 
hands to repel the fatal doctrines which threatened 
Europe with total overthrow. May they yield forever 
to the double influence of politics and religion com- 
bined ! Doubtless this wish will not be disappointed ; 
never in France has there been so g-reat a genius to 
control its policy, and never has the pontifical throne 
presented to the Christian world a more worthy and 
more touching model." The Monitetir, in its report 
of the coronation, spoke with the same official enlhu- 



120 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

siasm "of the most venerable apostolic virtues and of 
the most astounding political genius crowned by the 
highest destinies." David, the artist, once a member 
of the Convention and a regicide, then an Imperial- 
ist, painted the portrait of Pius VII., and the Moni- 
teur, in its number of March 30, 1805, thus praised 
the picture and the sitter : "A large crowd gathered 
in the gallery of the Senate, to see the portrait of His 
Holiness by M. David, member of the Institute and 
first painter to the Emperor. This portrait is in every 
way worthy of the master's reputation. If the first 
essential in a portrait is an exact likeness, this one 
possesses it to a very high degree. The head, which 
is admirably painted, expresses the indulgent and 
wise character, the gentleness and reasonableness, 
that are so conspicuous in the model; the eyes an 
expression, aif ectionate and paternal ; the expression 
of the mouth is most striking ; one feels that it can 
utter only words of peace, consolation, and truth." 

Josephine had for Pius VII. a feeling of veneration 
full of gratitude. She was most grateful to him for 
having persuaded Napoleon to have the religious 
marriage for which she had long yearned. She, who 
had preserved her faith in the midst of an irreligious 
society, was happy to inhabit the same palace, to live 
under the same roof, with the Vicar of Christ, and 
firmly hoped thereby to secure good fortune for her- 
self and her husband. For his part, Pius VII. appre- 
ciated Josephine's good qualities, especially her char- 
ity : he treated her as an indulgent father treats his 
child. 



THE POPE AT THE TUILEBIES. 121 

The second son of Louis Bonaparte and Hortense 
de Beauharnais was baptized by the Pope himself at 
Saint Cloud, March 27, 1805. The ceremony was 
most impressive. Eight Imperial carriages conveyed 
thither Pius VII. and his suite. The gallery of the 
palace had been turned into a chapel. In one of the 
Empress's drawing-rooms had been placed, on a plat- 
form, beneath a canopy, a bed without posts. On the 
foot of the bed had been spread a large cloak lined 
with ermine, to cover the child. In the same room 
were two tables on which were placed what were 
called the child's lionors; that is to say, the candle, 
the chrisom-cap, and the salt-cellar, and the honors of 
the godfather and godmother, — the basin, the ewer, 
and the napkin. The towel was placed on a square of 
golden brocade, and all the other things, except the 
candle, on a gold tray. Preceded by the Grand Mas- 
ter of Ceremonies, and followed by a colonel-general of 
the Guard, by the Grand Almoner, the Grand Cham- 
berlain, and the Master of tlie Hounds, the Emperor, 
who was godfather, and the godmother, Madame 
Bonaparte, his mother, went to the room where the 
ceremony was to be performed. The child was un- 
covered by Madame de Villeneuve, Maid of Honor 
to Princess Louis Bonaparte, and by Madame de 
Boubers, who was serving as governess. The first 
one lifted up the baby and handed him to the god- 
father, who gave him to Madame de Boubers to carry 
to the font. The Grand Master of Ceremonies 
handed the salt-cellar to Madame de Bouilld, the 



122 COUBT OF THE EMPBESS JOSEPHINE. 

chrisom-cap to Madame de Montalivet, the candle to 
Madame Lannes, the towel to Madame de S^rant, the 
ewer to Madame Savary, the basin to Madame de 
Talhouet. Then they went to the gallery, which had 
been turned into a chapel. Mesdames Bernadotte, 
Bessi^res, Davout, and Mortier held the corners of the 
Empress's cloak. The godmother was at the Emper- 
or's left. After the baptism the child was carried 
back to his room with the same procession. 

That evening Athalie was given, with choruses, 
at the court theatre. The company on their way 
thither passed through the orange house, which was 
aglow with colored lanterns. 

All day the park of Saint Cloud had been open to 
the public ; the fountains had been playing ; shows 
of all sorts amused the crowd ; the road to Paris was 
crowded with carriages and foot-passengers. In the 
evening there were fireworks ; the palace and gardens 
were illuminated ; there were bands playing, and rus- 
tic balls. 

The Pope, who had reached Paris November 28, 
1804, left April 4, 1805, just when the Emperor was 
starting for Italy, there to be crowned at Milan. 
Pius VII. had received some magnificent presents 
from the Emperor: a gold altar with chandeliers, 
and the sacred vessels of rich workmanship, a superb 
tiara, some gobelin tapestries, carpets from the Savon- 
nerie, and a statue of Napoleon in Sevres ware. The 
Empress had given him a valuable vase decorated by 
the best artists. The Moniteur thus announced the 



THE POPE AT THE TUILEBIES. 128 

Pope's departure: "To-day, April 4, at half-past 
twelve, His Holiness left Paris with the prelates and 
others of his suite. A crowd of both sexes and all 
ages assembled on the way he was to pass through, 
and received the Sovereign Pontiff's blessing; once 
more he was the object of expressions of the deepest 
veneration, and plainly manifested the emotions which 
these expressions called forth." 

Yet Pius VII. was not wholly satisfied with his 
journey. He had received much homage, but he had 
not secured any real political concessions of any im- 
portance. He had been unable to settle the impor- 
tant matter of the organic statutes, and nothing had 
been done about the restoration of the legation on 
Avhich he was so warmly set. Besides, he was much 
annoyed that he had not himself crowned Napoleon, 
as the Popes, his predecessors, had crowned emperors 
and kings. He, who later was to be a prisoner at 
Fontainebleau, went away distressed about the pres- 
ent, anxious for the future, and wondering whether 
his host might not say, with Voltaire, " It is all very 
well to kiss the Popes' feet, but it is better to have 
their hands tied first." 



XII. 

THE JOURNEY IN ITALY. 

THE Pope had left Paris to return to Rome April 
4, 1805. At almost the same time the Emperor 
and Empress had started from Fontainebleau to go 
to Milan, where Napoleon was to be crowned King of 
Italy. The code of etiquette that prevailed at the 
Tuileries was observed on journeys. The house in 
which the Emperor lodged at any stopping-place was 
the place where all who accompanied him were to 
meet. A great placard on which were written all the 
names, and where they were to be quartered, was 
pasted on the front door. In the villages where 
Napoleon spent but one night he received the local 
authorities, either^ before or after dinner. In the 
towns where he spent more than one day, after he 
had eaten his breakfast and held his receptions, he 
rode out to visit the fortifications and monuments. 
The evenings were generally taken up by the enter- 
tainments offered him. 

The Emperor and Empress reached Troyes April 

2. A letter dated the 3d Avas printed in the Moni- 

teur. It said: '^Everywhere the presence of the^ 

124 



THE JOUENEY IN ITALY. 125 



Emperor has evoked the liveliest applause ; the peo- 
ple seem astonished to see him wearing such a modest 
uniform, and conspicuous, in the midst of his court, 
by the plainness of his dress. The people of this de- 
partment exhibit this ]oj all the more because it is 
here that was brought up the man who was destined 
to raise France to the highest glory and prosperity. 
It is at Brienne that the Emperor received his earliest 
instruction. His Majesty, being anxious to revisit 
the places that recall these agreeable memories, started 
at two o'clock to-day for Brienne." 

On the steps of the castle in this town Napoleon 
found Madame de Brienne and Madame de Lomenie, 
who had been the guardians of his childhood. He 
treated them Avith the greatest respect, and took 
pleasure in recalling happy and touching memories 
of the past. He recalled many anecdotes, and told 
them in his usual vivid, picturesque way. He ac- 
cepted their invitation to dinner, played cards with 
them, and having found out their usual time of 
going to bed, asked to be shown at that hour to the 
room which had been prepared for him at his request. 
At dawn the next morning he went alone, without 
escort, to see some of his old walks in the neighbor- 
hood. He remembered a hut where he and his com- 
panions used to lunch, and recognizing the wood in 
which it was, he rode through the shady path that 
led to it. 

It belonged to a woman who in old times used to 
serve nuts, cheese, and brownbread to the schoolboy 



126 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

of Brienne, the future Emperor. He was delighted 
to see her once more, and asked her for the same 
repast which had formerly been his delight. At 
first the poor woman did not recognize the stran- 
ger; but gradually he refreshed her memory by 
recalling many incidents of the past. Then she 
understood that she was in the presence of the all- 
powerful Emperor, and flung herself at his feet. 
Napoleon lifted her, and left her a purse of gold, 
promising as he left to provide for her old age. 

The Emperor and Empress arrived at Lyons April 
10. A quarter of a league from the city, on the 
Boucle road, stood a triumphal arch, on the top of 
which, as in the reign of Augustus, was perched an 
eagle supporting the conqueror's bust. On the two 
side doors were two bas-reliefs, one representing the 
union of the Empire and Liberty; the other, Wis- 
dom, in the figure of Minerva distributing crosses of 
honor to soldiers, artists, and scholars. On these two 
bas-reliefs were statues of the Rhone and the Seine. 
At the top of the arch was a flattering inscription 
in verse. 

April 12, the Empress held a reception. The 
Bulletin of Lyons thus described it : " The assembly 
was most brilliant. As our sovereign has exhibited in 
his audiences profundity, affability, exact and varied 
learning, and true greatness, so his august wife has 
shone with grace, courtesy, and gentleness. Thus 
we witness a revival of that old French urbanity 
and politeness of manners which have ahvays dis- 



THE JOUBNEY IN ITALY. 127 

tinguislied our court, and have made it an example 
and an object of admiration for all foreign courts." 

The city offered Napoleon and Josephine an enter- 
tainment at the Grand Theatre. The back-scene 
represented the Emperor, seated, clad in a long tri- 
umphal robe. Two allegoric figures, representing, 
one, FrancCj^the other, Italy, with their feet resting 
on clouds, held in their hands a roll bearing this 
inscription : Sioblimi fe7'iam sidera vertice^ " I shall 
strike the stars Avith my lofty head " ; with the other, 
they each offered a crown to Napoleon. Thus did 
flattery renew the apotheoses of the Caesars of ancient 
Rome. 

There was sung a cantata entitled Ossian's Bream, 
The young men of the National Guard of Lyons and 
the leading ladies of the city waltzed before the 
throne. Two young girls held each a basket into 
which the dancers threw flowers as they passed by ; 
out of these flowers the girls wove two crowns which, 
after the dance, they presented to the Emperor and 
Empress. 

April 29, Napoleon and Josephine were present at 
a grand performance at the Grand Theatre in Turin. 
They stayed at the castle of Stupinizi, just outside of 
the city, where they bade farewell to Pius VII., who 
had celebrated the Easter festival at Lyons, and was 
on his way to Rome. 

The Emperor and the Empress reached Alessandria 
May 2, at ten in the morning, amid the roar of can- 
non and the ringing of church-bells. Napoleon spent 



128 COUBT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 



the day in revisiting the battle-field of Marengo, 
where he gave the Empress a mimic representation 
of the battle he had won five years before. From a 
throne he watched the manoeuvres executed under the 
command of Murat, Lannes, and Bessi^res. He had 
had the coat and hat he wore on the day of the 
battle brought from Paris. The coat was somewhat 
moth-eaten, and the odd hat would have seemed very 
much out of date if it had not recalled such precious 
memories. But Napoleon liked to recall that event- 
ful day when he had managed to grasp victory when 
apparently beaten. After the manoeuvres he sol- 
emnly laid the corner-stone of a monument to the 
memory of Desaix and the other brave men who fell 
at Marengo. 

At Alessandria, the next day, he had an interview 
with his brother Jerome, which in fact was a recon- 
ciliation. In 1803, after the breaking of the Peace of 
Amiens, Jerome Bonaparte, who then, a young man 
of twenty, was in the naval service, happened to be 
forced by an English cruiser to land in the United 
States. There he had fallen in love with the young 
and charming daughter of a rich merchant of Balti- 
more, Miss Elisabeth Paterson, and he married her. 
Napoleon was unwilling to recognize this marriage. 
No sooner had he ascended the throne than he at 
once exhibited all the feeling and prejudices of a 
monarch who belonged to a dynasty of the most 
venerable antiquity. He really believed that his 
brothers could marry only princesses, and that any 
other marriage was an unpardonable mesalliance. 



THE JOURNEY IN ITALY. 129 

If, possibly, Napoleon was able to condemn Lu- 
cien's "vvife for her past conduct, no such criticism 
could apply to the wife of Jerome, Avho was a young 
woman of conspicuous morality, intelligence, and 
amiability. But she was the daughter of a ship- 
owner, a merchant, and thus was not a proper match, 
he thought, for the brother of the powerful monarch 
who was already dreaming of restoring the vassal 
kingdoms and the Avhole vast imperial edifice of 
Charlemagne. He, the Emperor of the French, 
the King of Italy, did not like to remember that he 
had wedded a simple subject, and that he had been 
very proud of his marriage. He could not pardon his 
brother Jerome for making a love-match. He would 
not even listen to his defence of his young wife, soon 
to be a mother, and who deserved only respect and 
pity, and who, humiliated, abandoned, and broken- 
hearted, was about to be treated as a concubine, and 
driven away forever. Ambition had destroyed Napo- 
leon's natural kindliness. Yet, if he had seen Jerome's 
wife, a devoted and interesting woman, warmly 
attached to her husband, and alive to her duties, 
probably he would have taken pity on her. Possibly 
he was himself aware of this, for he forbade the 
unliapp}^ yo^^^^g woman to enter any part of the 
Empire, and compelled this innocent victim of politi- 
cal considerations to take refuge in England, as if she 
were a criminal. 

February 22, 1805, Napoleon had compelled his 
mother, Madame Letitia, to place in the hands of a 



130 COURT OF THE EMPEESS JOSEPHINE. 

notary, Raguicleau, a protest against Jerome's mar- 
riage, on the pretext that he, having been born No- 
vember 15, 1784, was not yet twenty at the date of 
his marriage, and according to the law of September 
20, 1792, a marriage contracted by any one under 
twenty Avithout the consent of his father and mother 
was null and void. The Moniteur of the 13th Ven- 
tose, Year XIII. (March 4, 1805), had contained the 
following lines : " 11th Ventose. By an act dated 
to-day, all the civil officers of the Empire are forbid- 
den to receive on their registers a copy of the certifi- 
cate of an alleged marriage contracted by M. Jerome 
Bonaparte in a foreign country, when under age, and 
without his mother's consent, and without previous 
publication in the place where he is domiciled." A 
few days later this appeared in the Moniteur: " M. 
Jerome Bonaparte has arrived at Lisbon in an Ameri- 
can ship ; in the passenger list were the names of Mr. 
and Miss Paterson. M. Jerome at once took port for 
Madrid. Mr. and Miss Paterson have re-embarked. 
They are supposed to be returning to America." 

Jerome, in obedience to the Emperor's orders, 
started from Portugal for Italy, posting day and 
night at full speed, through Badajoz, Madrid, Perpig- 
nan, and Grenoble. He says in his Memoirs : "Amid 
the mountains of Estremadura, his modest carriage 
encountered the almost royal train of the French 
Ambassador to Portugal. It was Junot whom he 
had left a simple aide-de-camp of ^the First Consul, 
and saw again one of the first personages of the 



THE JOURNEY IN ITALY. 131 

Empire. Madame Junot, an old friend from childhood 
of Jerome, was with her husband. This interview 
was a most interesting one, partly from the deserted 
spot where they met, and partly from the great 
events that had occurred since their separation." 

Junot and his wife found Jerome much improved. 
He had become more serious ; a certain gravity had 
taken the place of his youthful bubbling high spirits. 
He spoke with emotion, respect, and affection of his 
young wife whose pathetic situation was made even 
more disturbing by the state of her health. He pro- 
posed to throw himself at his brother's feet, and b}^ 
prayers and supplications to wring from him the 
consent he desired.. '' No one can doubt," he says 
in his Memoirs, "that his heart was torn by the 
keenest agitations, to say nothing of the anxiety 
about his wife ; the mortification at two years of 
inactivity, during which his comrades, friends, and 
relatives had worked, fought, and become great ; the 
regret for the lofty position he had lost ; the hope of 
regaining it ; his fear of his brother's wrath which he 
had ventured to arouse, and which made kings trem- 
ble on their thrones." 

Napoleon was to be inflexible ; he refused to admit 
that his brothers could be anything but members of the 
dynasty, future sovereigns. It was then that accord- 
ing to Miot de Melito, he said : '* What I have accom- 
plished so far is nothing. There will be no peace in 
Europe until it is under a single head, an Emperor, 
who shall have his officers for kino-s and divide the 



132 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 



kingdoms among his lieutenants ; who shall make one 
King of Italy, another King of Bavaria, one Lande- 
mann of Switzerland, another Stadtholder of Hol- 
land, and all with high positions in the Imperial 
household, with titles as Grand Cupbearer, Grand 
Master of the Pantry, Grand Equerry, Grand Master 
of the Hounds, etc. It will be said that this plan is 
only an imitation of that on which the German Em- 
pire is established, and that these ideas are not new ; 
but nothing is absolutely new ; political institutions 
only revolve in a circle, and what has happened 
necessarily recurs." A man with such aspirations 
and so near to realizing them, could not endure the 
idea of being the brother-in-law af a simple ship- 
owner. 

Jerome arrived at Turin, April 24, 1805. Napoleon 
was then at Alessandria. Eleven days passed before 
the brothers met. The Emperor had announced his 
decision. He was absolutely determined not to meet 
Jerome until he had made perfect submission. The 
unhappy youth still ventured to hope against hope, 
but soon he had to recognize his mistake. Then his 
heart and soul were torn by a hot conflict : on one 
side were his love for his wife, family feeling, the 
thought of the child that was soon to be born, his 
respect for marriage and for his vows ; on the other, 
ambition, love of power, the visions of the kingdoms 
that he might rule ; on one side, the smiles and tears 
of the woman he loved ; on the other, the influence 
and glory of the genius who filled the earth with his 



THE JOURNEY IN ITALY. 138 

fame, and always exercised a powerful fascination. 
Jerome, who was less sentimental and less proud than 
Lucien, at last yielded to his terrible brother, and 
condemned himself out of ambition never to see 
again the woman whom he loved and cherished. 
May 6th he went to Alessandria, having first sent a 
letter of submission to the Emperor. Napoleon be- 
fore receiving him, replied to it in these terms : — 

"Alessandria, May 6, 1805. My Brother: Your 
letter of this morning informs me of your arrival at 
Alessandria. There is no fault which cannot be 
effaced in my eyes by repentance. Your marriage 
with Miss Paterson is null in the eyes of both re- 
ligion and law. Write to Miss Paterson to return to 
America. I will grant her a pension of sixty thou- 
sand francs for life, on condition that she shall never 
bear my name, a right which does not belong to her in 
the non-existence of the marriage. You must tell her 
that you could not and cannot change the nature of 
things. When your marriage is thus annulled by 
your own will, I will restore to you my friendship, 
and resume the feelings I have had for you since your 
infancy, hoping that you will show yourself worthy 
of them by the efforts you will make to win my grati- 
tude and to acquire distinction in the army." 

A few days later Napoleon wrote to the Minister of 
the Navy : " M. D^cr^s, M. Jerome has arrived. He 
has confessed his errors and disavow^s this person as 
his wife. He promises to do wonders. Meanwhile I 
have sent him to Genoa for some time." 



134 COUBT OF THE EMPBESS JOSEPBINB. 

After his reconciliation with Jerome, Napoleon 
went to Pavia, where the magistrates presented to 
him the homage of his new capital, and he entered 
that city, with the Empress, May 8, amid the roar of 
cannon and the ringing of bells. 



XIII. 

THE CORONATION AT MILAN. 

BY descent, by his physical, moral, and intellec- 
tual nature, by his imagination and genius, 
Napoleon was much more an Italian than a French- 
man. His father and mother Avere Italians, his ances- 
tors were Italian, and Italian was his mother-tongue. 
His family and Christian names were Italian. His 
mother spoke French with the strongest Italian 
accent. He had loved Corsica before he loved 
France. As a child, he had felt the greatest enthu- 
siasm for Paoli, the Corsican patriot, and had then 
looked upon the French as foreigners and oppressors. 
His face not only resembled that of an Italian, but 
that of an ancient Roman. By a singular coinci- 
dence, he had the head of a Caesar. Italy was not 
only the home of his family, it was there that he laid 
the foundations of his glory. That unrivalled coun- 
try, as one of our poets calls it, had brought him good 
fortune. There he wrote the famous bulletins of his 
first victories ; there he began to impress the popular 
imagination ; and it was through Italy that he subju- 
gated France. There he felt at home. The people of 

135 



136 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 



that peninsula greeted him as a fellow-countryman. 
He liked to speak their language to them, charmed 
by its harmony and sincerity. His Southern genius 
rejoiced in its bright skies which lent everything such 
lustre, and well suited the conqueror's thoughts. He 
perhaps preferred Milan to Paris as a place to live in. 

His formal entrance into the capital of his king- 
dom of Italy had been skilfully arranged. Cardinal 
Caprara, the Archbishop of that city, had great influ- 
ence there, and he was never tired of speaking to his 
flock about the services Napoleon had rendered to 
the Catholic religion. The Grand Master of Cere- 
monies, M. de S^gur, who reached Milan a few days 
before the Emperor, charmed the best society of 
Lombardy by his pleasant wit and delightful man- 
ners, and induced the most illustrious families to 
solicit the honor of figuring among the ladies and 
officers in waiting at the palace of the King and 
Queen of Italy, as Napoleon and Josephine were 
called at Milan. 

The first visit which the King and Queen made 
in this capital was to the famous Cathedral. There 
they fell on their knees, and the Milanese were much 
touched by the spectacle. The Italian Journal^ in 
its official account of Napoleon's entrance into Milan, 
uttered these dithyrambics : "It is impossible to 
imagine a more brilliant day than that which yester- 
day adorned our capital, when Bonaparte, the hero of 
the age, our adored monarch, entered within our 
walls. This day will be forever memorable in the 



THE CORONATTON AT MILAN. 137 

chronicles of our history. Milan saw entering its 
gates, bearing the prond name of King, the same 
hero who had already been proclaimed conqueror, 
liberator, peace-maker, and legislator, and who to-day, 
under his august Empire, assures that greatness to 
Avhich his victories and his genius permit us to aspire. 
The Emperor entered by the gate named after his 
most glorious triumph, the Marengo Gate." 

On reaching Milan, Napoleon exchanged the deco- 
rations of the Legion of Honor for the oldest orders 
of chivalry in Europe. He received from the Minis- 
ter of Prussia the Black and the Red Eagle; from 
the Spanish Ambassador, the Golden Fleece ; from the 
Ministers of Bavaria and Portugal, the Orders of 
Saint Hubert and Christ respectively; and he gave 
them the broad ribbon of the Legion of Honor. 
When he had received besides foreign decorations 
for the principal men of the Empire, he granted an 
equal number of his own. May 12, wearing the 
broad ribbon of the Black Eagle, he went with the 
Empress to the theatre of La Scala and saw the opera 
of Castor and Pollux. The theatre, which was bril- 
liantly lit, was crowded with the fair ladies of Milan, 
resplendent in full dress and jewels. The elegance 
and splendor of these deservedly famous beauties, 
the brilliant diversity of the uniforms, the sumptu- 
ousness of the Imperial box, and on the stage the 
magnificence of the dresses and the scenery, the 
skill of the singers, all combined to make the -per- 
formance most memorable. That day, after mass, 



138 COUBT OF THE EMPBESS JOSEPHINE, 

Napoleon had ridden out, and had inspected the 
troops who paraded on the Place of the Cathedral. 

The Empress's grace and affability aroused general 
admiration. At the reception of the upper clergy of 
Italy, May 25, she was thus complimented by the 
Archbishop of Bergamo : " Madame, If charity were 
to descend from heaven to relieve the woes of 
humanity, it would seek no other asylum than the 
heart of a Queen adored by her subjects. The feel- 
ings of love, gratitude, and respect which animate 
all your subjects are the same that lead to your feet 
all the bishops of the kingdom of Italy. Happy to 
find in your august spouse sublimity, glory, and 
genius, and in you all the charm of kindness, nothing 
is left for them but to pray for the happiness of your 
reign, and to offer thanks to heaven for having 
united in the souls of their sovereigns everything 
which can make supreme power loved and respected." 
This speech will suffice to show to what pitch the 
official flatteries were tuned. 

The coronation took place May 26, in the Milan 
Cathedral, which is the largest church in Italy, with 
the single exception of Saint Peter's in Rome. The 
weather was magnificent. From early morning a 
numberless throng crowded the Place of the Cathe- 
dral, the court-yards of the palace, and the adjacent 
streets. Just as in Paris at the coronation, a wooden 
gallery had been built, connecting the Archbishop's 
Palace with Notre Dame, so here at Milan, a similar 
gallery led from the palace to the Cathedral. The 



THE CORONATION AT MILAN. 139 

interior of the church was decorated with crimson 
silk stuffs. As at Notre Dame, a large throne had 
been built at the entrance to the nave, approached by 
twenty-five steps. Four gilded statues, representing 
victories, upheld like caryatides the canopy above the 
throne. The four figures held in one hand palms ; 
in the other, the green velvet mantle falling from 
the vojdX crown above the canopy. The Cathedral 
was brilliantly lit by forty chandeliers hanging 
from the roof, and as many candelabra fastened on 
the columns. 

Josephine, who had been crowned as Empress in 
Paris, was not to be crowned at Milan, although she 
bore the title of Queen of Italy. She watched the 
ceremony from a galler3^ At half-past eleven she 
w^ent to the Cathedral, preceded by her sister-in-law, 
the Princess Bacciocchi, and was conducted beneath 
a canopy to her gallery, amid loud applause. At 
noon the Emperor and King left his palace, and 
reached the Cathedral through the wooden gallery. 
On his arrival there incense Avas burned, and he was 
welcomed b}^ an address from Cardinal Caprara, Arch- 
bishop of Milan, at the head of all his clergy. Pre- 
ceded by the ushers, the heralds-at-arms, the pages, 
the Grand Master and the masters of ceremonies, by 
the seven ladies carrying offerings, and by the honors 
of Charlemagne, of the Empire, and of Italy, he 
appeared in most impressive pomp. On his head he 
wore the crown ; he carried in his hands the sceptre, 
and the hand of justice of the kingdom ; on his back 



140 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

he wore the roy:al cloak, the skirts of which were car- 
ried by the two First Equerries of France and Italy. 
As he entered the Cathedral a march of triumph was 
played. He took his seat on the small throne in the 
choir, having on his right the honors of Italy, on his 
left, those of France. The Archbishop of Bologna, 
who held a place at the coronation of the King yeiy - 
like that of the Pope at the crowning of the Emperor, 
carried to the altar the iron crown of the old Lom- 
bard kings, and began the mass. After the gradual, 
he blessed the royal ornaments in the following order : 
the sword, the cloak, the ring, the crown. Napoleon 
received from the Archbishop's hands the sword, the 
cloak, and the ring, but he took himself the iron crown 
from the altar, and proudly placing it on his head, 
exclaimed, in a voice that thrilled all present : " Dio 
me la diede^guai a cTii la tocca!^^ — " God has given it 
to me ; woe to him who touches it ! " Then, having 
replaced the iron crown on the altar, he took the 
crown of Italy and placed it on his head, amid unan- 
imous applause. Preceded by the same officials who 
had conducted him to the chair, he walked down the 
nave and took his place on the great throne at the 
other end by the entrance. The first herald-at-arms 
shouted, "Napoleon, Emperor of the French and 
King of Italy, is crowned and enthroned. Long live 
the Emperor and King." || 

The same day, at half-past four in the afternoon, 
the King and the Queen drove in a state carriage, 
with a brilliant escort, to the church of Saint Am- 



THE CORONATION AT MILAN, 141 

brose, one of the most revered sanctuaries of Italy, 
and there they heard a Te Deum of thanksgiving. 

Mademoiselle Avrillon, Josephine's reader, tells us 
that Napoleon, when he had returned to the palace, 
was full of the wildest gaiety. He rubbed his hands, 
and in his good humor said to the reader: "Well! 
Did you see the ceremony? Did you hear what I 
said when I placed the crown on my head?" Then 
he repeated, almost in the same tone that he had used 
in the Cathedral : " God has given it to me ! Woe 
to him that touches it I " " I told him," says Mad- 
emoiselle Avrillon, " that nothing that had happened 
had escaped me.. He Avas very kind to me, and I 
often noticed that when there was nothing to annoy 
the Emperor, he talked cheerfully and freely with 
us, as if we were his equals ; but whenever he spoke 
to us he used to ask questions, and in order to avoid 
displeasing him, it was necessary to answer him 
without showing too much embarrassment. Some- 
times he gave us a pat on the cheek, or pinched our 
ears ; these were favors not accorded every one, and 
we could judge of his good humor by the way they 
hurt us. . . . Often he treated the Empress in the 
same way, with little pats preferably on the shoulders ; 
it was no use her saying : ' Come, stop, Bonaparte ! ' 
he went on as long as he pleased." 

The Emperor greatly enjoyed his stay in Milan, 
and breathed with rapture the incense burned in 
abundance before him. The Italian Journal in its 
account of the coronation reached lyric heights : 



142 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. .-^ 

" The most brilliant day has lit up Milan ; it has 
had no equal in the past, and it offers the happiest 
auguries for the future. . . . Old men themselves, 
accustomed as they are to praise the past, have ex- 
hibited the liveliest enthusiasm. It was in vain that 
night struggled to draw its veil over our city, it had 
to yield before the general and magnificent illumina- ■ 
tion which brought out in lines of fire the shape and 
admirable form of the Duomo. Most of the palaces 
and private houses were covered with devices and 
inscriptions. The first one of the days consecrated 
to the liveliest national rejoicing was ended by a vast 
exhibition of fireworks, which were set off on the . 
spot where so many have perished at the stake." * 

The next day games were celebrated, in the manner 
of the ancients, in a circus rivalling the Roman amphi- 
theatres in size. This was the occasion of a dithy- 
rambic outburst inserted in the Moniteur : " The 
Italians have just offered Napoleon the same spectacle 
that their ancestors offered Marcus Aurelius and 
Trajan ; but the presence of Napoleon has called 
forth more joy and admiration, because it has aroused 
greater admiration and higher hopes. They were but 
the preservers of Italian greatness ; he is its creator 
and its father. In the pomp of the games, amid the 
tumultuous applause, the immense mass of peoj^le 
were to be seen turning their eyes towards him alone, 
as if they were saying to him : ' These festivities are 
but feeble expressions of the gratitude that all Italy 
vows to you for all the good you have done her ; and 



THE CORONATION AT MILAN. ' 143 

since you deign to accept it, since you like to sit 
among us as our Prince and our father, these festivi- 
ties become an auguiy to us of still greater benefit. 
The day will perhaps come when Italy, restored to 
this new life, may be able to adorn its circus with 
the monuments of its own bravery which will also 
be the monuments of your glory ; and Italy, being 
never* doomed to perish, whatever great deeds may 
be wrought by Italians in the course of centuries 
will be due to the hero who has recalled them to 
life.' After the races there was a balloon ascension. 
The courageous wife of the aeronaut Garnerin ac- 
companied him and threw down flowers to Napoleon 
and Josephine. Thus," the Moniteur goes on, "in 
a single day, at one show, the Italians have combined 
the proudest pomp of the ancients and the boldest 
invention of modern science, together with the 
presence of a hero who excels both ancients and 
moderns." 

The 29th of May was devoted to popular festivities. 
All the afternoon the public gardens were crowded 
with musicians, singers, mountebanks, and pedlars. 
In the evening the via delta Riconoscenza, as far as 
the East Gate, was lit by lampstands, and at the end 
of a long row there was an eagle of fire holding on 
his breast an iron crown. 

Nothing was neglected to touch the national pride 
of Italy. An article in the Moniteur., speaking of a 
poem of Vincenzo Monti's, said : " What interest the 
poet has aroused, in recalling the glorious titles of 



144 COURT OF THE EMPBESS JOSEPHINE. 

ancient Italy, the disasters and degradation which 
followed this period of glory, in evoking the shades 
of those remote days, and after them, the shade of 
Dante who, by the wisdom of his maxims, is supe- 
rior to the poets of other nations; of Dante, the 
most enthusiastic admirer of the former glory of the 
Italians, the severest censor of the corruption into 
which Italy had fallen in his time ; of Dante, whose 
sole ambition was to prepare the new birth of 
Italy I And how did he prepare it ? By preaching 
union to the inhabitants of the different countries of 
Italy, and to the public authorities the consecration 
of power modified by the laws." 

June 3 Napoleon and Josephine went to visit an 
industrial and artistic exhibition at the Brera. There 
they saw Canova's Hebe, and his colossal statue of 
Clement XIII. '' The desire of seeing and approach- 
ing the sovereign," says the Monitew% " had made the 
crowd larger. An octogenarian who had in vain strug- 
gled to get to a staircase before him, was hustled and 
knocked down on the steps by the eager multitude. 
The Empress, who was following, ran to his aid. The 
Emperor turned back, questioned the old man, who 
was more disturbed by his joy than by his fall, asked 
him his name and a memorandum, and promised to 
look out for him. This scene produced a deep im- 
pression, and Their Majesties were led back amid 
universal applause and thanksgivings." 

At Milan, Josephine, who had become Queen of 
Italy, inhabited, with the Emperor, the magnificent 



THE CORONATION AT MILAN. 145 

Monza Palace. But, perhaps, in all the splendor of 
the highest point of her good fortune, she regretted 
the Serbelloni Palace, where, nine years before, she 
exercised so beneficent an influence on her husband's 
destiny, and had protected him with her affection, 
as with a talisman. Doubtless the Empress and 
Queen would have returned gladly to the time when 
she was called simply Citizeness Bonaparte. Then, 
instead of the imperial and royal diadem, she pos- 
sessed youth, which is better than any crown, and 
her husband gave her something preferable to any 
throne — his love ! There the generals used to wear 
less showy uniforms, more moderate salaries, but they 
were more enthusiastic and unselfish. Then Bona- 
parte's glory was less famous, but purer. When she 
saw Milan again, after many years' absence, Josephine 
recalled all the happiness and all the misery that had 
occurred meanwhile, all the grandeur and the tragedy 
that had filled this period so brief, but so crowded 
with marvellous events. 

There were many happy memories, but also many 
shadows ! This look backward was not without 
melancholy. When she saw the approach of the 
autumn of her amazing career, Josephine could not 
think without secret sadness of the splendor of its 
summer. While her husband proudly enjoyed his 
satisfied ambition, she dreamed and pondered seri- 
ously. She desired once more to see the places 
which recalled the pleasantest memories of her first 
journey : the lake of Como, with the Villa Julia and 



146 COUBT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

Pliny's house ; the Lago Maggiore and Borromean 
Islands ; the palaces of the Isola Bella and the Isola 
Madre ; all the enchanting spots which recalled the 
gracious memories of youth and love. 

June 7 Napoleon appointed Eugene de Beauharnais 
Viceroy of the Kingdom of Italy, and three days 
later left Milan with Josephine. In all the principal 
cities of the Empire his coronation had been cele- 
brated by public rejoicings. Murat had given a ball 
at his castle of Neuilly, about which the Journal des 
Debats had said : ^' At the same moment when the 
arts of ingenious Italy were displaying all their mar- 
vels under the eyes of Their Majesties, French gal- 
lantry and gaiety were rendering similar homage to 
the happy reign which had recalled them from a long 
exile/' Aix-la-Chapelle inaugurated the statue of the 
great Carlovingian Emperor amid salvos of artillery 
and the applause of the Germanic populace, who sa- 
luted at the same time the names of Charlemagne and 
of Napoleon. 



XIV. 

THE FESTIVITIES AT GENOA. 

rj'^HE Italian journey closed as brilliantly as it 
JL began. After leaving Milan, Napoleon ap- 
proached the frontiers of Austria, against which he 
was to fight before the end of the year, visiting the 
celebrated quadrilateral, consisting of the four forti- 
fied towns : Mantua, Peschiera, Verona, and Legnago. 
He was present at a mimic representation of the 
battle of Castiglione, in which twenty-five thousand 
men took part on the field upon which that battle had 
been fought ; then he went to Bologna, where the 
charms of his conversation were highly appreciated by 
the learned professors of its university. While he was 
there a deputation from Lucca visited him, asking 
him to take that little country under his protection. 
He gave it for Prince and Princess, his brother-in- 
law, Felix Bacciocchi, and his sister Elisa, to whom 
he had already entrusted the Duchy of Piombino. 
Lucca was thus elevated to a hereditary principality, 
a dependent of the French Empire, which should 
revert to the French crown in case the male line of 
the Bacciocchi should become extinct. It was a sort 

147 



148 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

of revival of the old Germanic fiefs. Evidently the 
memory of Charlemagne continually filled Napoleon's 
thoughts. Elisa thenceforth bore the title of Prin- 
cess of Lucca and of Piombino. She was a well edu- 
cated and able woman, of marked intelligence and 
strong will. M. de Talleyrand used to call her " the 
Semiramis of Lucca." After Bologna, Napoleon 
visited Modena, Parma, and Piacenza. The cities 
he passed through rivalled one another in flattery. 
They voted him medals, statues, and even a temple, 
which, however, the demi-god declined. 

June 30 Napoleon and Josephine arrived at Genoa, 
where they were to stay till July 7, amid unprece- 
dented festivities celebrating the incorporation of the 
old Republic with the French Empire. It was a sin- 
gular sight, this enthusiastic reception of a Corsican 
by the Genoese. While at Milan, the Emperor had 
received M. Durazzo, the last Doge of Genoa, who 
had come to beg him to permit the illustrious Ee- 
public, famous for its historical splendor, to exchange 
its independence for the honor of becoming a plain 
French department. The offer was accepted. The 
home of Andrea Doria, the city of marble palaces, 
that municipality once called " the superb " had 
begged as a favor to be stricken from the list of 
independent states. It contented itself with being 
the principal town in the twenty-seventh military 
division, and its doge, dispossessed by his own desire, 
went to swell the number of the Senators of the 
Empire. Napoleon took formal possession of his 



THE FESTIVITIES AT GENOA. 149 

peaceful conquest, and slept in the palace, and in 
the bed of Charles V. 

The night festivity, given in the harbor, July 2, 
was, in the way of picturesqueness, one of the most 
original and most beautiful ever seen. The sky was 
clear, the sea calm, the crowd of spectators enormous. 
Napoleon and Josephine, going down from the ter- 
race in the garden of the Palazzo Doria, entered a 
large round temple, magnificently decorated, which 
was at once set in motion as if by magic, and trans- 
ported by many oars to the middle of the harbor. 
Four rafts, covered with shrubbery, resembling float- 
ing islands, then drew up to the temple. The sover- 
eigns were thus, in open sea, enclosed in a vast gar- 
den with trees, flowers, statues, and fountains. About 
this garden of Armida, thus radiant upon the waves, 
were a multitude of boats, under sail or propelled by 
oars, moving about, and their lights resembled the 
swarms of fireflies that in summer flutter above the 
fields of Lombardy. The mild temperature favored 
this joyous festival. The whole city, all the build- 
ings, every vessel, were ablaze with a thousand lights, 
and the glassy sea reflected numberless flames. The 
darkness of night gave the signal for the illumina- 
tions. Magnificent fireworks were set off from the 
mole, the jetty, and the ships lining the entrance of 
the harbor. Music mingled with the joyous cries of 
the multitude. The temple in which were Napoleon 
and Josephine was rowed back to the terrace of the 
Palazzo Doria amid the applause of the crowd lining 
the shore. 



150 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

The next day the Emperor and Empress were at a 
ball given in the old Ducal Palace. " The presence 
of Their Majesties in this snperb building," says the 
Moniteur^ " the kindness with which they deigned to 
speak to every one, gave this festivity a touching 
character. All who saw and heard our sovereigns, 
rejoiced in their new destinies. The concert was 
followed by a ball, and Their Majesties stayed 
through the several dances, leaving about midnight. 
Their path was lit by numberless candles. On their 
way they met a multitude, delighted even at that 
hour, to be able to discern some of our monarch's 
features." 

In spite of all these splendid ceremonies Josephine, 
though idolized, was not happy. "In general," Mad- 
emoiselle Avrillon says with justice, " the public has 
a very faint knowledge of the real feelings of those 
in the highest station. Being often on show, they 
are obliged to assume a fictitious character, just as 
they dress themselves for great ceremonies. I have 
seen the Empress's sufferings, whom nothing could 
console for her separation from her children, whom 
she loved above everything. Ambitions were less to 
her than maternal love, her strongest feeling. The 
thought of leaving her son in Italy, the fear of never 
seeing him again, or the certainty of seeing him sel- 
dom, made her shed tears." One day when she was 
in more distress than usual. Napoleon said to her : 
" You are crying, Josephine ; that's absurd ; you are 
crying because you are going to be separated from 



I 



THE FESTIVITIES AT GENOA. 151 

your son. If the absence of your children gives you 
so much pain, judge what I must suffer. The affec- 
tion you show them makes me feel most acutely my 
unhappiness in having none." These words sounded 
in Josephine's ears like a funeral knell. She saw the 
spectre of divorce rising before her, and turned pale. 
From Genoa they went to Turin. Napoleon heard 
there of the coalition preparing against him, and left 
suddenly for France with Josephine. Non-commis- 
sioned officers of the Grenadiers and the Chasseurs of 
the Guard served as escort, but they were unable to 
keep up with the carriages, so the Emperor thanked 
them for their zeal and pushed on without them. He 
did not stop once for twenty-four hours. Josephine, 
who never tormented her husband by complaining, 
did not say a word about the fatigues of this quick 
journey. After an absence of a hundred days, they 
reached Fontainebleau, July 11. No one expected 
them and no preparations had been made for their 
reception. Their departure from Turin had been 
so recent, and it resembled a flight. The Emperor 
did not wdsh to be recognized on the way, and burst 
into Fontainebleau like a bombshell. The palace por- 
ter was an old servant, named Guillot, who had been 
Napoleon's cook in Egypt. " Well," the Emperor 
said to him, '^ you must go back to your old business 
and cook us some supper." Fortunately the porter 
had in his sideboard some mutton-chops and eggs. 
He set to work, and Napoleon ate this improvised 
meal with great relish. Josephine borrowed some 



152 COURT OF THE EMPBESS JOSEPHINE. 

linen from one of her old chambermaids. The Em- 
peror asked for a full account of everything that had 
happened in Paris during his absence, and began to 
draw up the plans which were to be accomplished at 
Austerlitz before the end of the year. July 18, at one 
in the afternoon, he arrived at Saint Cloud, accom- 
panied by the Empress, amid the roar of the cannon ;l 
at the Invalides. That evening they went into the 
city, called on Napoleon's mother, and went to the 
opera, where the Pretendus was given ; the audience 
greeted them most warmly. After all the splendor 
of the Italian festivities the time had come for mili- 
tary preparations and warlike thoughts. 



XV. 

DURING THE CAIMPAIGN OF AUSTERLITZ. 

AUSTERLITZ was to be for the Empire what 
Marengo had been for the Consulate : a con- 
solidation. In spite of the pomps of the double coro- 
nation, Napoleon did not feel firmly established on 
his Imperial and Royal throne. Opinions varied with 
regard to the stability of the new regime. The Lib- 
erals missed the Republic, and the Royalists the 
Bourbons. If the army and the people showed con- 
fidence in the Emperor's star, the Parisian middle 
class was always cool, and business men observed 
with anxiety the hostility of England, Austria, Rus- 
sia, and possibly Prussia. Paris was gloomy ; busi- 
ness was dull y the absence of the court depressed the 
shop-keepers ; the theatres were empty ; in short, the 
winter was infinitely less gay than the one before. 
There was general uneasiness ; wives feared for their 
husbands; mothers for their sons. Every one had 
become used to the peace which had lasted five years, 
and the renewal of war inspired the greatest anxiety. 
As for Napoleon, he felt the need of some great 
stroke that should astonish and fascinate the world. 

153 



154 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

He understood that to maintain his fame he was con- 
demned to work miracles. September 23, 1805, he 
had exposed to the Senate the hostile conduct of 
Austria, and had announced his speedy departure to 
carry aid to the Elector of Bavaria, the ally of 
France, whom the Austrians had just driven from 
Munich. Five days later he had started, confident of 
success, and certain that he would find his people at 
his feet on his return. The Empress accompanied 
him as far as Strassburg, and established herself there 
to be near the scene of war and to receive earlier 
news than was possible at Paris. 

Napoleon's letters to Josephine during the Auster- 
litz campaign have been preserved; unfortunately, 
we have not hers to him. The Emperor writes very 
differently from General Bonaparte. His letters are 
not the ardent, passionate, romantic epistles recalling 
the fervid style and thought of the Nouvelle Heloise. 
They are substantial letters, concise and interesting, 
such as a good husband might write after ten years 
of marriage, but not at all a lover's letters. Josephine, 
who was quite observant, must have noticed the dif- 
ference, but she had enough tact and prudence to 
avoid complaint. 1805 was not 1796 ; Napoleon still 
loved Josephine, but from habit, gratitude, and a 
sense of duty, not with mad passion. He paid her 
much attention, held her in high regard, felt sympa- 
thy with her, deference, and friendship, but scarcely 
love. Beneath the vaulted roof of Notre Dame 
Napoleon had given to Josephine the Im23erial dia- 



DUBING THE CAMPAIGN OF AUSTEELITZ. 155 

dem, bat lie had not given her the trne crown, — 
love. 

October 1 the Emperor took command of his army, 
which had assembled with wonderful promptness on 
the Rhine. The next day he wrote to the Empress 
from Marenheims : "I am still very well, and leaving 
for Strassburg, where I shall arrive this evening. The 
advance has begun. The armies of Wlirtemberg and 
of Baden are joining mine. I have a good position 
and love you." October 4 he wrote to her : " I am 
at Ludwigsberg, and leave to-night. There is no 
news. All the Bavarians have joined me. I am well. 
I hope in a few days to have something interesting 
to tell you. Keep well and believe that I love you. 
There is a very fine court here, a pretty bride, and 
the people are pleasant, even the Elector's wife, who 
seems very good, although she is a daughter of the 
King of England." 

October 5 Napoleon sent another letter to Joseph- 
ine from Ludwigsberg : " I have at once to continue 
my march. You will be five or six days without 
news of me ; don't be anxious ; it is on account of 
the operations we undertake. Are you as well as 
I could hope ? Yesterday I was at the v/edding of 
the son of the Elector of Wurtemberg with a niece 
of the King of Prussia. I want to give her a present 
of from thirty-six to forty thousand francs. Have it 
made and send it by one of my chamberlains to the 
bride when the chamberlains are coming to me. Do 
this at once. Good by ; I love and kiss you." 



156 COUBT OF THE EMPBES8 JOSEPHINE. 

These five or six days of silence were taken up by 
the opening of hostilities on the road from Stuttgart 
to Ulm, the crossing of the Danube, and the occupa- 
tion of Augsburg. From this city Napoleon wrote to 
Josephine October 10 : "I spent last night with the 
former Elector of Treves, who has comfortable quar- 
ters. I have been on the move for a week. The 
campaign opens with noteworthy successes. I am 
very well though it rains nearly every day. Things 
have moved very quickly. I have sent to France 
four thousand prisoners, eight flags, and have cap- 
tured fourteen cannon. Good by, my dear; I kiss 
you." Two days later the French army entered 
Munich in triumph, the Austrians having been driven 
out of Bavaria. The Emperor wrote to the Empress, 
October 12 : " My army has entered Munich. The 
enemy is partly on the other side of the Inn ; the 
other army of sixty thousand men I have blockaded 
on the Iller between Ulm and Memmingen. The 
enemy is lost, has completely lost its head, and every- 
thing promises the luckiest, shortest, and most brilliant 
campaign ever known. I leave in an hour for Burgau 
on the Iller. I am well; the weather is frightful. It 
rains so that I have to change my clothes twice a day. 
I love you." 

The first successes of the campaign caused great 
excitement in Paris, as is shown by the letters of 
Madame de Remusat, no great lover of military glory, 
to her husband, who had accompanied the Empress to 
Strassburg ; every day this lady would jot down what 



DUBING THE CAMPAIGN OF AUSTERLITZ. 157 

had happened, and her interesting correspondence 
brings the period vividly before us. October 12, she 
wrote, the absence of the Empress leaving her time 
heavy on her hands : " How gloomy and ill we are in 
this odious Paris I Please tell M. de Talleyrand that 
it is really something pitiable. Not even a word of 
gossip ! In short, we are as bored as we are virtuous. 
I don't know which is the cause and which the effect, 
but I do know that I am horribly bored. The solitude 
of this great city is really remarkable ; the theatres 
are empty ; I hardly ever go to them." 

In two. days there was a complete change. Paris 
woke up as if to a joyous trumpet-call, and Madame de 
Rdmusat was full of happiness : " My dear, what good 
news ! " she wrote October 14, "... This morning 
the cannon announced the victory to the city of Paris ; 
it produced -^ great effect. Every one was inquiring 
about it in the street, and congratulating himself ; in 
short, I send the Empress word, the Parisians were 
French. I have already written twenty notes, and 
received all the visits of congratulation. . . . But 
what a great victory ! How proud I am of being a 
Frenchwoman ! I couldn't sleep for joy. Perhaps 
by this time you have heard of others, and when we 
are rejoicing over the first victory, you have forgotten 
it with another. May Heaven continue to protect 
this noble army and its glorious leader ! " This en 
thusiastic letter ends with these somewhat harsh criti- 
cisms of the Parisians : " This victory was necessary, 
for these sad Parisians had begun to complain. The 



158 COUBT OF THE miPEESS JOSEPHINE. 

emptiness of Paris, its quiet, the lack of money which 
continues to make itself felt, gave to the malevolent 
a good opportunity to excite dissatisfaction, and they 
did their best to spread it. I was wondering this very 
morning why in a nation so devoid of national feeling 
there should be in the army such unity of action and 
thought. It seems to me that honor has a good deal 
to do with this difference, and that it takes the place 
of public spirit in many who in ordinary times are 
too happy, too rich, and too careless to care for any- 
. thing beyond their own belongings." 

Napoleon went from one victory to another. Octo- 
ber 18, just before the capitulation of Ulm, he wrote 
to Josephine from Elchingen : " I have been more 
tired than I should have been; for a week getting wet 
through every day, and cold feet, have done me a little 
harm, but staying in to-day has rested me. I have 
carried out my plan and have destroyed the Austrian 
army by simple marches. I have taken sixty thousand 
prisoners, one hundred and twenty cannon, more than 
ninety flags, and more than thirty generals. I am 
going to attack the Russians ; they are lost. I am 
satisfied with my army. I have lost only fifteen 
hundred men, and two-thirds of these are but slightly 
wounded. Good by. Remember me to every one. 
Prince Charles is coming to cover Vienna. I think 
Massdna ought to be at Vienna at this time. As soon 
as I am easy about Italy I shall make Eugene fight. 
My love to Hortense." 

The capitulation of Ulm was arranged by Napoleon 



DURING THE CAMPAIGN OF AlTSTEBLITZ. 159 

with Prince Lichtenstein, Major-General of the Aus- 
trian army. A heavy rain fell without cessation, and 
the prisoners were amazed to see the Emperor, who 
had not taken off his boots for a week, wet through, 
covered Avith mud, and more tired than the humblest 
drummer. When some one spoke of it, he said 
to Prince Lichtenstein : " Your Emperor wanted to 
remind me that I was a soldier. I hope he will 
acknowledge that the throne and the Imperial purple 
have not made me forget my old trade." October 
21, the day after the capitulation. Napoleon wrote 
to Josephine : "I am very well, my dear. I leave at 
once for Augsburg. I have made an army of thirty- 
three thousand men surrender. I have taken from 
sixty to seventy thousand prisoners, more than ninety 
flags, and more than two hundred cannon. In the 
military annals there is no such defeat. Keep Avell. 
I am a little worried. For three days the weather 
has been pleasant. The first column of prisoners 
starts for France to-day. Each column contains six 
thousand men." Never had war been fought with 
such art. An army of eighty-five thousand men had 
been destroyed almost without firing a gun ; its adver- 
saries had lost only three thousand men. After this 
great victory Napoleon's soldiers said, " The Emperor 
beat the enemy with our legs, not with our bayonets." 
These chronicles of war have a sad side even when 
they commemorate the most brilliant victories. Even 
while he counts the trophies the historian cannot 
avoid melancholy reflections. What capitulations 



160 COURT OF THE UMPEUSS JOSEPHINE. 

awaited France sixty-five years after this capitulation 
of Ulm ! But in tiiis intoxication of victory, people 
have eyes only for their success. Were they reason- 
able, they would then reflect on the calamities of war. 
Hortense, who was as kind as her mother, Josephine, 
had this wisdom and pity. She said, " When I read 
these accounts I am surprised to find myself ready to 
weep even when I am happy at the victories." At 
the same time Madame de Remusat wrote to her hus- 
band : " Poor creatures that we are, how restless we 
are on this sandhill, and too often only to hasten our 
end ! A good subject for the philosopher is this glory, 
Avith which we adorn our eagerness in killing one 
another." The triumphal music should not drown 
the sobs and cries of the mothers ; we should think of 
the dead and wounded. But nations are like indi- 
viduals : they never reflect. 

Napoleon pushed on the war with real delight. He 
felt about war as a good workman feels about his 
work, as a great artist about his art. To war it was 
that he owed his power and glory. Without it, he 
said, he would have been nothing ; by it, he was 
everything. Hence he felt for it not merely love, but 
gratitude ; loving it both by instinct and calculation. 
He preferred the bivouac to the Tuileries. Just as 
the snipe-shooter prefers a marsh to a drawing-room, 
he was more at home under a tent than in a palace. 
To men who like the battle-field, war is the most 
intense of pleasures. They love it as the gamester 
loves play, with a real frenzy. They defeat the enemy, 



BUBING THE CAMPAIGN OF AUSTEBLITZ. 161 

not merely without feeling, but with a fierce joy, as 
if it were their prey. They feel the same emotions 
as the Romans in a circus, or the Spaniards at a bull- 
fight. The rattle of drums, the blare of -trumpets, 
shouts of soldiers, are what they hear ; their ears are 
deaf to the cries of the wounded and dying. The 
varying chances of the combat, the uncertainties of 
fear and hope produce in them emotions that they 
prefer to all others, however poetic and charming. 
It is with a sort of intoxication that they inhale the 
smell of gunpowder, perpaps even that of blood. 
A hotly contested victory is more agreeable to them 
than one too easily gained. Fortune is, in their eyes, 
a difficult mistress, whose favors seem the dearer, the 
harder they are of attainment. What a satisfaction 
for a proud man to be absolute commander of an 
army which, before the fight, shouts like the ancient 
gladiators : Ave^ Ocesar, morituri te salutaiit ! " Hail, 
Caesar, those about to die salute you I " an army in 
which even dying men shout applause, with their last 
breath, to their sovereign, their idol ! And yet how 
petty is all this glory ! Bossuet was right when he 
said : " What could you find on earth strong and 
dignified enough to bear the name of power? Open 
your eyes, pierce the dusk. All the power in the 
world can but take a man's life : is it then such a 
great thing to shorten b}^ a few moments a life which 
is already hastening to its end?" 

Josephine did not in the least share her husband's 
warlike tastes. Gentle, kindly, affectionate, full 



162 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

of pity for human woes, she would have liked to 
reconcile all parties, all nations, — to have universal 
peace. This woman, who had all the graces and 
charms of her sex, never inspired Napoleon with 
ambitious or haughty thoughts. While the war 
lasted, she was anxious, unhappy ; waiting anxiously 
with bated breath for news, scarcely living. 

Napoleon wrote to her from Augsburg, October 23 : 
" The last two nights have rested me completely, and 
I leave for Munich to-morrow ; I am summoning to 
me M. de Talleyrand and M. Maret ; I shall see them 
for a short time, and then leave for the Inn, where I 
mean to attack Austria in its hereditary states. I 
should have been glad to see you, but don't expect 
me to summon you unless there should be an armis- 
tice, or Ave should go into Avinter quarters. Good b}^, 
my dear; a thousand kisses. Remember me to all 
the ladies." From Munich the Emperor wrote the 
following letter, dated October 27 : "I have received 
your letter from Lamarois. I am sorry to see that 
you have been over-anxious. I have heard many de- 
tails of your affection for me, but you should have more 
strength and confidence. Besides, I had told you I 
should not write for six days. To-morrow I expect 
the Elector. At noon I start to strengthen my move- 
ment on the Inn. My health is very fair. You 
mustn't think of crossing the Rhine in less than two 
or three weeks. You must be cheerful, and amuse 
yourself in the hope of our meeting before the end of 
the month (Brumaire). I am advancing on the Rus- 



BUBING THE CAMPAIGN OF AUSTEBLITZ. 163 

sian army. In a few clays I shall have crossed the 
Inn. Good by, my dear ; much love to Hortense, to 
Eugene, and to the two Napoleons. Keep the wed- 
ding present for some time yet. Yesterday I gave 
a concert to the ladies of this court. The leader 
is a worthy man. I have shot pheasants with the 
Elector ; you see I am not worn out. M. de Talley- 
rand has come." Again, from IIaag\ November 3, 
1805 : " I am advancing rapidly ; the weather is very 
cold ; the snow is a foot deep. This is not pleasant. 
Fortunately, we have an abundance of wood ; we are 
continually in the forests. I am fairly well. Every- 
thing goes on satisfactorily; the eneni}^ has more 
cause for anxiety than I. I am eager to hear from 
you, and to know that your mind is easy. Good by, 
my dear ; I am going to bed." 

Napoleon continued his operations with startling- 
rapidity. He wrote to Josephine November 5 : ''I 
am at Linz. The weather is fine. We are within 
twenty-eight leagues of Vienna. The Russians are 
retreating without making a stand. The house of 
Austria is much embarrassed ; all the belongings of 
the court have been removed from Vienna. You will 
probably have some news in five or six days. I am 
very anxious to see you. My health is good." The 
Emperor of Austria, compelled to leave Vienna, had 
sought refuge at Brunn, where he joined the Czar and 
the second Russian army ; and Napoleon entered the 
capital whence the Emperor Francis had fled. He 
wrote to Josephine November 15 : " I have been for 



164 COUBT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

two days in Vienna, a little tired. I have not yet seen 
the city by daylight, but have only passed through it 
by night. To-morrov^ I receive the authorities. Al- 
most all my troops are beyond the Danube in pursuit 
of the Russians. Good bj^, dear Josephine ; as soon 
as possible I shall arrange for you to come. I send 
much love." The next day he wrote again to the 
Empress from Vienna : " I am v^^riting to M. de 
Karville to arrange for you to go to Baden, thence to 
Stuttgart, and thence to Munich. At Stuttgart you 
will give the present to the Princess Paul. Fifteen 
or twenty thousand francs will be enough for it ; the 
rest will be enough for a present to the daughter 
of the Elector of Bavaria at Munich. All that you 
heard from Madame de Serent is definitely arranged. 
Bring presents for the ladies and officers in v\^aiting 
on you. Be pleasant, but receive all their homages ; 
they owe you everything, and you owe them nothing, 
except in the way of politeness. The Electress of 
Wiirtemberg is a daughter of the King of England ; 
you should treat her well, and especially without 
affectation. I shall be glad to see you as soon as 
business will permit. I am leaving for the front. 
The weather is admirable ; there is much snow, but 
everything is in good condition. Good by, my dear 
one." On the receipt of this letter, Josephine, who 
was most anxious to see her husband, hastened away 
from Strassburg to go to Munich through Baden and 
Wiirtemberg. At the same time Napoleon set off to 
meet the Austrian and Russian armies, commanded 
by their respective Emperors, in Moravia. 



DURING THE CAMPAIGN OF AUSTEBLITZ. 165 



We have in the Memoirs of General cle Segur, an 
eye-witness, an interesting account of the eve of 
Austerlitz. Late in the afternoon Napoleon entered 
a hut, and took his place at table in the best of 
spirits, along with Murat, Caulaincourt, Junot, Segur, 
Rapp, and a few other guests. They thought that he 
would talk about the next day's battle. Not at all : 
he discussed literature with Junot, who was familiar 
with all the new tragedies ; he had a good deal to 
say about Raynouard's Templars, about Racine, Cor- 
neille, and the fate of the ancient drama. Then, by 
a singular transition, he began to talk about his 
Egyptian campaign. " If I had captured Acre," he 
said, " I should have put my army into long trousers, 
and have made it my sacred battalion, my Immortals, 
and have finished my war against the Turks with 
Arabians, Greeks, and Armenians. Instead of fight- 
ing here in Moravia, I should be winning a battle of 
Issus, and be making myself Emperor of the West, 
returning to Paris through Constantinople." 

After dinner Napoleon wished to make a final 
reconnoissance of the enemy's position by their biv- 
ouac fires; he mounted his horse and rode out 
between the lines. One moment he came near pay- 
ing dear for his imprudence ; he went too far forward 
and suddenly fell on a post of Cossacks, and had 
it not been for the devotion of the cliasseurs who 
escorted him, he would have been killed or captured, 
and he was scarcely able to escape at full gallop. 
After crossing the stream which covered the front of 



166 COURT OF THE miPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

tlie Frencli army, he dismounted and returned to his 
bivouac, from one watch-fire to anotlier, on foot. On 
his way he stumbled over the stump of a tree and fell 
to the ground. Then a grenadier took some straw, 
rolled it up to something like a torch, and lit it; 
other soldiers did the same thing; the camp was 
illuminated, and the face of the great conqueror was 
plainly to be seen. The next day was December 2, 
the anniversary of his coronation. "Emperor," 
shouted an old soldier, " I promise you in the name 
of the grenadiers of the army that you will have to 
fight only with your eyes, and that to-morrow we shall 
bring you the flags and artillery of the Russian army 
to celebrate the anniversary of your coronation." 
Every one shouted applause. Napoleon in vain tried 
to stop them. " Silence," he commanded, " until 
to-morrow ! think of nothing but sharpening your 
bayonets 1 " Shouts of " Long live the Emperor ! " 
were repeated. Along a line of two leagues blazed 
thousands of fires and flames. The Russians won- 
dered what was the cause of this unusual brilliancy, 
and thought the French were retreating. Napoleon 
was at first annoyed by this rapturous demonstra- 
tion, but at last he was touched by it, and passing 
through a number of bivouacs, all brightly lit, he 
expressed his gratitude to his soldiers, saying it was 
the happiest evening of his life. Then he went to 
his tent, snatched a little sleep, and when he rose in 
the morning, said, "Now, gentlemen, we are begin- 
ning a great day." 



DUBING THE CAMPAIGN OF AUSTEBLITZ. 167 

A moment later, the commanders of the differ- 
ent army corps, Murat, Lannes, Bernadotte, Soult, 
Davout, came galloping up the little mound which 
the soldiers called the Emperor's hill, to receive his 
final orders. It was a solemn, impressive moment. 
"If I were to live," says General de Segur, "as long 
as the world shall last, I shall never forget that 
scene. . . . Times have changed quickly since then. 
Heavens ! how great everything was then, how brave 
the men, how glorious the time, how imposing the 
appearance of fate ! " Never was there a more bril- 
liant triumph. "I have fought thirty battles like 
that," said the conqueror, " but I have never seen so 
decisive a victory, or one where the chances were so 
unevenly balanced." And then full of admiration 
for his soldiers, he exclaimed, "I am satisfied with 
you; you have covered your eagles with undying 
glory." 

From a military point of view Austerlitz was 
Napoleon's greatest triumph. War, which he loved 
with all its risks and emotions, then showed him its 
most tempting side. He was always tempting fate, 
and fate had always favored him. The hour had not 
yet struck when he was to ask more of fortune than 
it could give. As Sainte-Beuve truly says, it was not 
till in the icy plain of Eylau, from the cemetery 
covered with blood-stained snow, that receiving the 
first warning of Providence, he had a sort of terrible 
vision of what the future held in store for him. 
Then he had before his eyes a sort of rehearsal of the 



168 COURT OF THE EMPBE8S JOSEPHINE. 

horrors awaiting liim in Russia, and at the sight of 
so many corpses, and the awful scene, he said with 
deep melancholy, " This sight is one to fill kings with 
love of peace and horror of war." But at Austerlitz 
it was very different. The shrieks of the Russians 
sinking through the holes torn in the ice by cannon- 
balls were drowned in the shouts of the victors. 
The bright sunlight of that day of triumph dispelled 
all traces of gloom in the conqueror's heart. 

December 3, Napoleon wrote thus to Josephine 
about his victory : " I despatched Lebrun to you from 
the battle-field. I have beaten the Russian and Aus- 
trian armies commanded by the two Emperors. I am 
a little tired. I have bivouacked for a week in the 
open air, and the nights have been cool. To-night 
I am going to sleep in the castle of Prince Kaunitz, 
where I shall get two or three hours' rest. The 
Russian army is not merely defeated, but destroyed. 
Much love." December 3, he had an interview in 
his bivouac with the Emperor of Austria ; and as if 
to apologize for the wretched quarters in which he 
received him, he said, "This is the palace which 
Your Majesty has compelled me to inhabit these three 
months." The Emperor of Austria replied, "You 
make such good use of it, that you certainly can't 
blame me on that account." And then the two 
Emperors embraced. 

The next day Napoleon wrote to Josephine: "I 
have made a truce. The Russians withdraw. The 
battle of Austerlitz is the greatest I have won : forty- 



DUEING THE CAMPAIGN OF AUSTEELITZ. 169 

five flags, more tlian one hundred and fifty cannon, 
the standards of the Russian guards, twenty generals, 
more tlian twenty thousand killed, — a horrid sight I 
The Emperor Alexander is in despair, and is leaving 
for Russia. Yesterday I saw the Emperor of Ger- 
many in my bivouac ; we talked for two hours, and 
agreed on a speedy peace. The weather is not yet 
very bad. Now that the continent is at peace, we 
may hope for it everywhere : the English will be 
unable to face us. I shall see with pleasure the time 
that will restore me to you. For two days a little 
trouble with the eyes has been prevalent in the army. 
I have not yet been attacked. Good by, my dear. 
I am fairly well, and very anxious to see you." 
December 3, there was another letter, also from 
Austerlitz : " I have concluded an armistice, and peace 
will be made within a week. I am anxious to hear 
that you have reached Munich in good health. The 
Russians are going back after suffering immense 
losses : more than twenty thousand killed and thirty 
thousand captured ; they have lost three-quarters of 
their army. Buxhovden, their commander-in-chief, 
is killed. I have three thousand wounded and seven 
or eight hundred killed. I have a little trouble with 
my eyes : an epidemic ; it amounts to nothing. Good 
by ; I am anxious to see you once more. To-night 
I sleep in Vienna." 

Cambacer^s said that the news of the victory of 
Austerlitz filled the populace with the wildest joy, 
which expressed itself in the most extravagant flat- 



170 COUBT OF THE EMPBESS JOSEPHINE. 

tery. The Emperor was treated like a god, and 
naturally a sovereign so flattered did not control his 
love of war. It was only on his deathbed that 
Louis XIV. said, " I have been over-fond of war ! " 
He said nothing of the sort when the gates of Saint 
Martin and of Saint Denis were built in his honor, 
when his statue was put up in the Place des Vic- 
toires, when Lebrun painted the proud frescoes in the 
gallery at Versailles. Like Louis XIV., Napoleon 
reproached himself with excessive love of war ; but 
it was not after Austerlitz, but after Waterloo. No 
man is worthy of adoration ; it belongs to God alone. 
Woe to the princes who are fed on flattery ! Ex- 
travagant laudation brings its punishment; even in 
this world pride has its fall. 

The enthusiasm was universal ; the victorious 
French could not contain themselves for joy, and 
wholly lost their heads. Thus even Madame de 
R^musat, who, after the defeat, had shown herself 
so severe, one might almost say so cruel, towards 
Napoleon, wrote thus to her husband, December 18, 
1805, after the news of Austerlitz: "You cannot 
imagine how excited every one is. Praise of the 
Emperor is on every one's lips ; the most recalcitrant 
are obliged to lay down their arms, and to say with 
the Emperor of Russia, ' He is the man of destiny ! ' 
Day before yesterday I went to the theatre with 
Princess Louis to hear the different bulletins read. 
The crowd was enormous because the cannon in the 
morning had announced the arrival of news ; every 



nUBING THE CAMPAIGN OF AUSTERLITZ. 171 

thing was listened to, and then applauded with cries 
such as I had never imagined. I wept copiously all 
the time. I was so moved that I believe if the 
Emperor had been present, I should have flung my 
arms about his neck, to beg for pardon afterwards 
at his feet. After this I supped out : every one plied 
me with questions. I knew the whole bulletin by 
heart, and kept repeating it ; and was glad to be able 
to tell the news to so many people, to repeat those 
simple impressive words, with a feeling of owning 
them, which you can understand better than I can 
define. I missed you much in all my joy, which I 
should have gladly shared with you; but in your 
absence I tried to communicate my admiration to 
our son. Instead of making him finish the life of 
Alexander, which he has been reading for two days, 
it occurred to me to have him read aloud the Moni- 
tem\ and he was so much pleased that he said he 
thought it all much greater than Alexander." 

Alas ! thoughtful people should never forget how 
much greater is virtue than success. In this low world 
no one takes a lofty enough view of things. Not 
after defeat, but after victory, is the time to speak of 
war seriously and sadly. If Napoleon in the hour 
of triumph had not been flattered to excess, if at the 
proper moment the lessons of history, philosophy, and 
religion had been enforced upon him, he Avould not 
have rushed blindly into the gulf that finally swal- 
lowed him. Nothing is less humane, less Christian, 
than the extravagant praise lavished on the conquer- 



172 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

ors of the earth. Laymen and priests are equally to 
blame, for the flatterers of conquerors bear perhaps a 
heavier responsibility than the conquerors themselves. 
In the ancient triumphs, at least there was a slave 
charged with reminding the hero that he was but a 
man ; in modern times, there is nothing of the sort ; 
the hero can imagine himself more than mortal. Why 
does not the clergy, instead of intoning a Te Deum, 
take the part of that slave ? Is it well to forget that 
those nations who are most modest in success are 
bravest and most resigned in misfortune? Those 
whose heads are turned by prosperity cannot endure 
reverses. For society, as for individuals, nothing is 
more baneful than outbursts of joy and pride. The 
vaster a monarch's power, the greater his need to 
meditate on the fickleness of fate ; but the lessons of 
wisdom are never recalled till they are useless ; they 
are whispered into his ears only when they can but 
add a sting to defeat. 



I 



XVI. 

THE MAERIAGE OF PRINCE EUGENE. 

BOTH before and after the battle of Austerlitz a 
great part of Germany was at Napoleon's feet. 
The Electors of Baden, Wiirtemberg, and Bavaria, 
the last two of whom were to become kings by the 
consent of the new Charlemagne, testified an enthu- 
siastic admiration for him, and were all to profit by 
his victory. The petty princes who were about to 
enter the Confederation of the Rhine were his hum- 
ble vassals, and paid obsequious court to his Minister 
of Foreign Affairs, M. de Talleyrand. The archives 
of our Ministry of Foreign Affairs would have to be 
consulted for an exact understanding of their servility 
and flattery. Moreover, the populace itself shared 
the feelings of their princes. The Bavarians re- 
garded Napoleon as their liberator. French manners 
and ideas Ave re more than ever prevalent on the banks 
of the Rhine, and Germanic patriotism pardoned 
France the possession of the left bank of this river. 
If Napoleon had not abused fortune, what grand and 
pacific things might he not have accomplished in 
concert with Germany, and what progress might 

173 



174 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

not have been made for the harmony of nations, for 
civilization and humanity ! 

We quote a letter written before the battle of 
Austerlitz, November 26, 1805, by the Elector of 
Bavaria to M. de Talleyrand, then in Vienna : " You 
are the most amiable of men, my dear Talleyrand. 
Your two letters ^which I received last evening have 
given me the greatest pleasure. How grateful I am 
that you should have thought of me and of Munich 
when you are in the most beautiful city in Germany, 
and hearing every day the famous Crescentini ! I do 
as much for you. Your Excellency, but the merit is 
not the same. Every evening I express my regret 
that you are not here. M. de Canisy has announced 
the arrival of the Emperor in a Aveek. Six days have 
passed, and I am hoping to see him in three days at 
the outside, and the Empress, Saturday next. My 
wife arrived day before yesterday, very anxious, as is 
her chaste spouse, to pay our court to Their Imperial 
Majesties, and to offer them all the honors of Munich. 
Lay me before the feet of the hero to whom I owe 
my present and future existence, and speak to him 
often of my respect, of my enthusiasm for his virtues, 
and of my heartiest and incessant gratitude. I hope 
that the coalition will soon grow tired of war ; in any 
event, the lessons the Emperor has given it the last 
two months are of a nature to inspire disgust with it." 

November 10, 1805, Napoleon had written to Jo- 
sephine to leave Strassburg for Munich, stopping at 
Carlsruhe and Stuttgart. In this letter he had said : 



THE MABBIAGE OF PlllNCE EUGENE. 175 

" Be pleasant, but receive all their homages ; they owe 
you everything, and you owe them nothing, except in 
the way of politeness." He was not mistaken. This 
trip of the Empress's through Germany was to be one 
series of festivities and ovations. Before she left 
Strassburg she received a visit from the Elector of 
Baden, whose grandson, the hereditary prince, was, 
the next year, to marry Mademoiselle Stephanie de 
Beauharnais, in spite of the opposition of his mother, 
the Margravine. M. Massias, charge d'affaires of 
France at Baden, wrote to M. de Talleyrand, No- 
vember 13 : " My Lord, His Most Serene Highness 
the Elector, has returned with his family from 
Strassburg, where he was most kindly received by 
Her Majesty the Empress and Queen. He invited 
her to honor Carlsruhe with her presence, and to 
accept quarters in his castle when she should go to 
join His Majesty the Emperor and King. Her Maj- 
esty the Empress seemed pleased with the invitation 
and promised to accept it if circumstances should 
permit. Before his departure, the Elector sent the 
Prince Electoral to the Margravine his mother, to 
beg her to come to Strassburg to pay her respects to 
Her Majesty the Empress. She replied that when 
the Empress of Austria was at Frankfort and the 
Queen of Prussia at Darmstadt, she had not left 
Carlsruhe to visit them, and that if the Empress of 
the French should pass through that town, she should 
gladly pay her all the respect and honor due her rank 
and character." 



176 COURT OF THE JEMPBESS JOSEPHINK 

Charles Frederick, Elector of Baden, was then 
seventy-seven years old. He had lost his son, and 
his heir was his grandson, Charles Frederick Louis, 
Prince Electoral, then twenty years old. The mother 
of this young Prince, the Margravine of Baden, enter- 
tained no friendly feelings towards France ; and he 
was the brother-in-law of the Emperor of Russia, who 
had married his sister, and was at war with Napoleon. 
His other sister, Frederica Caroline, had married the 
Elector of Bavaria, and he was betrothed to the step- 
daughter of this Electress, the young Princess Au- 
gusta. They were said to be much attached to each 
other, but their plans of happiness were destined to 
be sacrificed to Napoleon's imperious will, for he pro- 
posed to arrange the matches of the German Princes 
as he did those of his own brothers. The Electoral 
Prince of Baden and the old Elector, his grandfather, 
far from complaining, only showed to the Emperor 
most unbounded devotion. 

We may judge of their attitude and their respect 
by this despatch of M. Massias, charge d'affaires at 
Carlsruhe, addressed to Talleyrand, under date of No- 
vember 23, 1805 : " My Lord M. de Canisy reached 
here from headquarters at four o'clock this morning, 
and asked me to inform His Most Serene Highness 
the Elector that he had been sent by Her Majesty the 
Empress, who meant to come to Carlsruhe within two 
or three days. I promised to do this as soon as pos- 
sible, and told him that great preparations had been 
made to receive Her Majesty in a suitable manner. 



THE M ABB I AGE OF PBINCE EUGENE. 177 

The Elector, to wliom I communicated this news at 
seven in the morning, expressed the greatest satisfac- 
tion, and he has sent me word that in order to carry 
out his desire to give Her Majesty a proper reception, 
he wishes me to send a message to Strassburg to find 
out, 1, the exact day when she will arrive; 2, the 
number of persons in her suite, and how many horses 
she will need ; 3, whether she desires to eat alone or 
with the principal persons of her own and the Elec- 
toral court ; 4, to ask to have at once sent an official 
of the court to arrange the quarters and the cere- 
monies according to the Empress's Avishes. At Kehl, 
Her Majesty will find a carriage and eight horses 
from the Elector's stables. Similar relays will be 
placed as far as the frontiers of Wiirtemberg. Her 
Majesty will be escorted by the Electoral cavalry. 
She herself will determine the etiquette to be ob- 
served at the court of Carlsruhe during her entire 
stay. 

" His Most Serene Highness, the Prince Electoral, 
will go as far as Rastadt to meet Her Majesty. The 
Margrave Louis will meet her outside of Carlsruhe 
at the head of his body-guard. Bells will be rung 
wherever Her Majesty passes. The city will be brill- 
iantly illuminated." 

November 28, at six in the evening, the Empress 
formally entered Carlsruhe, which was amid a general 
illumination. At the Miihburger gate stood an arch 
of triumph under which she passsd. In front of the 
arch was this inscription : Pro Lnperatrice Josephina ; 



178 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

on the other, Votiva lumina ardent. At the entrance 
of the castle gate stood a little temple bearing this 
inscription : Salve. In the middle of the garden was 
a larger temple, in which was to be seen on a pedestal 
the Emperor's bust, crowned with laurels and sur- 
rounded with palms. The inscription ran : Maximis 
triumphis sacrum., — " Consecrated to the greatest tri- 
umphs." On two pyramids was to be read this 
motto : " Love leads to glory." November 29, there 
was a grand reception and concert in her honor at 
the court. At nine o'clock in the morning of the 
30th, she left Carlsruhe for Stuttgart, after an affec- 
tionate farewell to the Electoral family. 

At seven that evening she made a similar formal 
entrance into the capital of Wiirtemberg, passing 
under an arch of triumph bearing her name sur- 
mounted by an Imperial crown. Soldiers lined the 
way from the gate to the Elector's castle. The main 
street was decorated with Egyptian altars, and was 
brilliantly illuminated, as was the castle also. The 
Elector, his wife, a daughter of the King of England, 
and all the court received the Empress at the castle 
door and escorted her to her rooms, where she supped. 
The next day she sat on a platform at a state dinner 
in the white hall. Afterwards the company went to 
the Opera House, where Achilles was given. After 
they had returned to the castle there were some fine 
fireworks. These festivities continued until Decem- 
ber 2, when Romeo and Jidiet was given for the first 
time, and the 3d, at seven in the morning, Josephine, 



THE MABBIAGE OF PEINCE EUGENE. 179 



after bidding the family farewell, pushed on towards 
Munich, while the troops presented arms and cannon 
were fired. 

The Empress was not to stop between Stuttgart. 
and Munich, but on her way she saw many places 
that had just become famous in the war. As she 
drew near them she looked at the plain where, a 
few days before, the enemy's army had marched out 
before Napoleon and laid down its arms. From 
Augsburg to Munich everything made her journey 
most brilliant; arches of triumph, bands of music 
so numerous that often their notes mingled with 
one another, wreaths of leaves, successive guards of 
honor who joined her, composed of the Royal Guard 
of Italy, at nearly every parting station. As a let- 
ter in the Moniteur says, " Enthusiasm succeeded to 
fear, the whirl of festivities to the lamentation of 
battle ; all that had been said of the Empress's 
benevolence seemed still to make part of her suite, 
and it was as if the Angel of Peace had come to 
visit these countries." 

The Empress reached Munich December 5, eight 
days after leaving Strassburg. A salute of a hundred 
guns welcomed her. In almost every street even 
houses were draped, windows adorned with trans- 
parent and complimentary figures ; the illuminations 
of private houses rivalled in expense and splendor 
those of the public buildings. State carriages were 
sent out to the city gates for the Empress and her 
suite, but Josephine did not get into any of them ; 



180 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

she kept on her travellmg dress. This did not mar 
the brilliancy of the entrance, which was conspicuous 
for universal joy. December 7, she went to the 
theatre, where Mozart's Don Juan was given, and 
she was greeted with sound of trumpets and the 
applause of the audience. 

The iimpress had scarcely reached Munich before 
people began to talk about an early marriage between 
her son, Eugene de Beauharnais, and the Princess 
Augusta, the daughter of the Elector, but it was^ still 
merely a faint rumor. The French minister, M. Otto, 
wrote December 16, 1805, the following despatch on 
the subject to M. de Talleyrand: "My Lord, — 
Immediately after the arrival of Her Majesty the 
Empress, the rumor spread that His Most Serene 
Highness Prince Eugene was likewise on his way 
to Munich, there to conclude a marriage with Prin- 
cess Augusta of Bavaria. The rumor has taken 
such shape in the last few days that a foreign lady, 
who has been most kindly received by the Electoral 
family, ventured to ask the Elector if she might 
congratulate him on so desirable a marriage. This 
Prince replied that he knew nothing about it; that 
his daughter was promised to the Prince of Baden ; 
that the two young people had the strongest attach- 
ment for each other ; and that only day before yester- 
day the Electress had received from Baden a most 
affectionate letter on the subject; and that he loved 
his daughter too much to wish to oppose her incliija- 
tions. This is the first time that mention has been 



THE MARRIAGE OF PRINCE EUGENE. 181 

made at court of a matter which the public supposed 
settled quite differently. The Electress was present 
at this conversation, and corroborated everything 
,that was said concerning her brother's attachment 
to the Princess. This anecdote, which comes to me 
straight from the castle, proves that the Baden 
marriage is not broken, as has been said at Carls- 
ruhe, unless the Elector wished to conceal the truth 
from the lady who questioned him on this subject. 
Inquisitive people have tried to make out the true 
state of things by watching the conduct of Her 
Majesty the Empress and the persons of her suite. 
The relations of the two courts are confined to 
politeness on each side, to social attentions, in which 
Her Majesty exhibits all her natural amiability, which 
wins every heart. Beyond that, there prevails the 
greatest reserve." 

Maximilian Joseph, Elector of Bavaria, was born in 
1756, and was then fifty years old. He had lost his 
first wife, who had borne him one daughter, the Prin- 
cess Augusta Louisa, who was born in 1788. His 
second wife, Caroline, a Princess of Baden, sister of 
the hereditary Prince of Baden, to whom the Prin- 
cess Augusta was betrothed, was then thirty years old. 
Though not handsome, she was not devoid of charm, 
her figure was good, her manners were amiable and 
dignified. The young Princess Augusta was the 
ornament of the Munich court. She had all the 
freshness, brillianc}^ and charm of a young German 
girl of eighteen. As for the Elector, he was an 



182 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

attractive, sympathetic man, who combined frank 
joviality with tact, wit, and delicacy. He was tall ; 
his face was noble and regular. He liked the French, 
and they liked him; it was in France that he had 
spent many years of his youth. As a younger prince 
of the house of Deux Fonts he became Elector only 
by the extinction of the branch of his family that 
reigned in Bavaria. In his early life he had no for- 
tune. In the reign of Louis XVI. he served in the 
French armies, commanding the regiment of Alsace. 
At the court of Versailles, as in the garrison at 
Strassburg, he tiad left behind him a reputation of 
good manners and chivalrous gallantry. His soldiers, 
who adored him, called him Prince Max. At that 
time he might have married a daughter of the Prince 
of Conde, but his father and his uncle objected to 
this match, because, since he was not rich, he would 
doubtless have been compelled to make some of his 
daughters canonesses, and certain chapters would 
have been unwilling to receive them on account of 
their illegitimate descent from Louis XIV. and Ma- 
dame de Montespan. He was fond of recalling the 
last years of the old regime in France, and spoke 
most affectionately of that country, in which he had 
been very happy. He was worshipped by his family, 
his servants, and his subjects. There was never a 
kinder, more amiable prince. Often he Avould stroll 
unaccompanied through the streets of Munich, going 
to the markets, bargain over grain, enter the shops, 
talking to every one, especially to the children, whom 



THE MABEIAGE OF PRINCE EUGENE. 183 

he urged to go to their schools. He Avas at once 
familiar and full of dignity, and he was as much re- 
spected as loved. There were manj^ points of resem- 
blance between his character and that of the Empress 
Josephine, and they had a very strong sympathy for 
each other. 

The Empress was ailing during a good part of her 
stay in Munich, and whether for this reason or 
because Napoleon, wha was always moving from 
place to place, did not get his letters regularly, he 
was for some time without news from his wife. He 
wrote to her from Brunn, December 10, 1805 : " It is 
a long time since I have heard from you. Have the 
grand festivities of Baden, Stuttgart, and Munich 
made you forget the poor soldier who lives covered 
with mud, rain, and blood ? I am going to leave soon 
for Vienna. They are trying to make peace. The 
Russians have left and are fleeing far from here, 
going back to Eussia badly beaten and sorely hu- 
miliated. I am anxious to be wdth you once more. 
Good by, my dear ; my eyes are well again." 

Naj)oleon wrote again December 19, rencAving his 
complaint : '' Great Empress, not a letter from you 
since I left Strassburg. You have passed through 
Baden, Stuttgart, Munich, without writing us a Avord. 
That is not very kind or very affectionate ! I am 
still at Brunn. The Russians are gone; Ave have a 
truce. In a fcAV days I shall see Avhat is to become 
of me. Deign from the giddy height of your gran- 
deur to interest yourself a little in your slaA^es." 



184 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

From Schonbrunn he wrote to Josephine, December 
20, 1805 (29th Frimaire, Year XIY.) : " I have your 
letter of the 25th [Frimaire]. I am sorry to hear 
that you are not well ; that is not a good preparation 
for a journey of a hundred leagues at this time of 
year. I don't know what I shall do ; that depends 
on what happens. I Irave no will of my own ; I am 
waiting to see how matters settle themselves. Stay 
at Munich, amuse yourself ; that is not hard, amid so 
many pleasant people, in such a charming country. 
I am tolerably busy. In a few davs I shall have 
made up my mind. Good by, my dear." 

December 26, peace was signed at Pressburg between 
France and Austria. The treaty gave to the King- 
dom of Italy, Istria, Dalmatia, and Friuli; to the 
Elector of Wiirtemberg, the title of King and the 
Suabian territory ; to the Elector of Baden, the Breis- 
gau, Ortenau, and the town of Constanz ; to the 
Elector of Bavaria, the title of King, the Vorarlburg, 
and the Tyrol. But Napoleon had determined that 
these indemnifications should be paid for by three 
marriages, — that of his step-son, Prince Eugene, with 
the daughter of the King of Bavaria ; that of a rela- 
tive of his wife. Mademoiselle Stephanie de Beauhar- 
nais, with the hereditary Prince of Baden ; that of his 
brother Jerome with the daughter of the King of 
Wiirtemberg. 

Napoleon, accompanied by Murat, entered Munich 
beneath an arch of triumph, December 31, 1805, at a 
quarter to two in the morning. This entrance in the 



THE MARRIAGE OF PRINCE EUGENE. 185 

night, lit up by torches, Avas very impressive. The 
next day, January 1, 1806, a herald-at-arms, escorted 
by numerous horsemen, passed through the different 
quarters of the city, and read the following proclama- 
tion, after a flourish of drums and trumpets, while 
an immense crowd gathering in every street and 
crossway loudly applauded : " By the grace of God, 
the dignity of the sovereign of Bavaria having re- 
covered its old-time splendor, and this State having 
resumed the rank it formerly held for the happiness 
of its subjects and the glory of the country, be it 
known that His Most Serene Highness the power- 
ful Prince and Lord Maximilian Joseph is, by these 
presents, solemnly proclaimed King of Bavaria and 
of all the countries on it dependent. Long live 
and happily Maximilian Joseph, our very gracious 
King! Long live, and happily, Caroline, our very 
gracious Queen ! " That evening the whole city was 
full of joy, and the next day was celebrated as a 
national festivity. 

Napoleon, having recaptured the twenty-nine can- 
non and the twenty-one Bavarian flags that had fallen 
into the hands of the Austrians by the chances of war 
and the occupation of the country, had decided to 
restore to his faithful allies the trophies which they 
had valiantly defended and whose loss they mourned. 
In the morning of January 2, all citizen soldiery was 
under arms, lining the streets through which was 
to pass the procession and their precious burden. 
The cannon were placed on carts adorned with fes- 



186 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

toons and garlands, each cart was drawn by two horses 
belonging to the citizens ; the houses were also deco- 
rated with different colored ribbons. All the young 
people in the city accompanied these carts. The 
students of the Royal College of Cadets carried the 
flags. When the procession reached the grand square, 
a large chorus, accompanied by a large band, sang a 
song of thanksgiving and victory. The populace and 
the soldiers mingled their cheers with this song. 
The procession then made its way to the Church of 
Our Lady, where a Te Deum was sung with great 
solemnity. 

January 4, Napoleon wrote to Prince Eugene: 
"My Cousin, — Within twelve hours at the most, after 
the receipt of this letter, you will start with all speed 
for Munich. Try to get here as soon as possible, so 
that you may be sure to see me. Leave your com- 
mand in the hands of the general of division whom 
you judge to be most capable and upright. You 
need not bring a large suite. Start at once, and 
incognito, and so avoid both dangers and delays. 
Send me a messenger to give me twenty-four hours' 
notice of your arrival." The Emperor had decreed 
the marriage of his step-son with Princess Augusta 
of Bavaria, but he had to go through certain formal- 
ities to overcome the objections of . the Queen of 
Bavaria, who wanted her brother, the hereditary 
Prince of Baden, to marry the young Princess. Her 
family pride and her inmost feelings revolted against 
the admission into her family of a young man whom 



THE MARRIAGE OF PRINCE EUGENE. 187 

she looked on as an upstart. She sought for pretexts 
and devices to dehiy, if not to prevent, this alliance. 
No one would have dared to say at Munich that the 
Emperor's step-son was not great enough to marry 
a king's daughter, but she found fictitious excuses : it 
was said that the young Princess was ailing, and at 
another time that she was suffering from a sprain. 
Napoleon, who sometimes plaj^ed the diplomatist, 
feigned to believe in these alleged ailments, and said 
that he would send his own surgeon to heal her. He 
would gladly have returned speedily to Paris, where 
lie deemed that his presence was necessary, but his 
Chamberlain, M. de Thiard, whom his previous nego- 
tiations had made familiar with the secrets of the Bava- 
rian court, advised him to stay in Munich until the 
marriage was absolutely settled. " Very well," said 
the Emperor ; " but do you know that v/hile I am 
here, your Faubourg Saint Germain is making a run 
on my bank, and that my stay in Munich costs me 
fifteen hundred thousand francs a day?" M. de 
Thiard insisted, and dared to show Napoleon the 
Queen of Bavaria's ever-present recollection of the 
Duke of Enghien, which was the secret cause of her 
aversion to the projected alliance. But this opposi- 
tion could hold out for onl}^ a few hours; no one 
then dared to brave the Imperial wrath. The Queen, 
fearing that Napoleon's surgeon would discover that 
the Princess's alleged sufferings were onlj^ an excuse, 
yielded to the wishes of the hero of Austerlitz. The 
marriage was announced even before the couple had 



( 

188 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

met. Everything was done in military fashion. 
Orders were issued that they should love, and they 
loved. 

There is this to be said in behalf of Napoleon: that 
in the whole matter he made no use of harsh words 
or rough manners. He appeared in an attractive, 
not in a threatening light, and by dint of appearing 
smitten with the Queen of Bavaria, even aroused 
Josephine's jealousy. 

Prince Eugene arrived, as commanded, January 10. 
He had the good fortune to please; but even if he 
had not pleased it would have made no difference. 
As soon as he reached Munich, after travelling day 
and night, the Emperor took possession of him and 
never left him. The Empress was still in bed when 
her son's arrival was announced. She was much 
moved, and began to cry at the thought that his first 
visit was not to her. A moment later, while she was 
still agitated, she saw the Emperor burst into her 
room, holding the young Prince by the hand, and 
pushing him forward as he exclaimed: "Here, 
Madame, is your great booby of a son whom I'm 
bringing to you." Josephine burst into tears, and 
pressed her son to her heart. 

Eugene de Beauharnais, a French Prince, and Vice- 
roy of Italy, was then twenty-four years old. Mad- 
emoiselle Avrillon, reader to the Empress, thus draws 
his portrait : " Prince Eugene's face, although in no 
way remarkable, was rather well than ill favored ; he 
was of medium height, well proportioned, and stoutly 



THE MARBIAGE OF PRINCE EUGENE. 189 

made. He excelled in all sorts of corporeal exer- 
cises, and was an accomplished dancer. Kind, frank, 
simple in his manners, without haughtiness or reserve, 
he was courteous to every one ; and although he was 
not devoid of deep feelings, his most striking trait 
was persistent good spirits. He was very fond of 
music, and sang very well, especially Italian songs, 
which all his family preferi'ed. As he Avas young, he 
naturally paid many women attention, as I have often 
seen, but he always treated them with great respect." 
Napoleon was very fond of him, and looked upon him 
as his pupil, as his own child. He was delighted 
with the way Eugene discharged his duties as Vice- 
roy, and when he received his despatches he ex- 
claimed in the presence of several marshals, "I 
knew very well to whom I had entrusted my sword 
in Italy." He often gratified Josephine by saying, 
" Eugene may serve as a model to all the young men 
of liis age." 

The young Prince showed great tact and intelli- 
gence in his first meetings with his future wife. He 
sought every means of pleasing her, paid her assiduous 
court, as if their marriage was still undetermined. He 
was able to overcome the Princess's prejudices, for 
she had given her consent only at the last moment, 
as a victim sacrificed for reasons of state. Her 
father, the King, dreading the excitement of an inter- 
view, had written to her a letter, in which he set 
out all the advantages of the match desired by the 
Emperor, vaunted the good qualities of the young 



190 COITET OF THE EMPBESS JOSEPHINE. 

and dashing Viceroy of Italy, and to prove that it 
was a brilliant match, revealed to her what was 
then unknown, that at Pressburg the Austrian Min- 
ister had offered to Napoleon for his step-son the 
hand of one of their Archduchesses. " Consider, 
dear Augusta, that a refusal would make the Emperor 
as much the enemy as he has been hitherto the friend 
of our house." And he ended his letter with a last 
appeal to his daughter's patriotic devotion. The 
young Princess replied by writing : " I place my fate 
in your hands; however cruel it may be, it will be 
softened by the knowledge that I am sacrificed for 
my father, my family, and my country. On her 
knees your daughter prays for your blessing ; it will 
aid me to bear my sad lot with resignation." The 
girl's unhappiness soon gave way to joy. The Em- 
press had spoken to her most warmly of Eugene's 
qualities, his bravery, loyalty, and gallantry, and the 
Princess found out that Josephine was right. She 
forgot her cousin, the Prince of Baden, fell instanta- 
neously in love with Eugene, and this marriage for 
reasons of state turned out to be a love match. It 
was celebrated with great pomp in the Royal Chapel, 
January 14, four days after the bridegroom's arrival 
at Munich. The Emperor adopted Prince Eugene, 
and gave him in the marriage contract the name of 
Napoleon Eugene of France. This adoption wrought 
a great change in their correspondence ; previously 
the Emperor when he wrote to the Viceroy addressed 
him as, " My Cousin " ; henceforth he always wrote, 



TIIF. MARBIAGE OF PRINCE EUGENE. 191 

" My Son." Madame Murat, who was then at Munich, 
was pamed to see that the new Vice-Queen, as wife 
of the Emperor's adopted son, took precedence of 
her at all ceremonies, and she feigned an illness to 
avoid what seemed to her an affront. 

On lier wedding day the Princess charmed every 
one by her grace. She was tall, well shaped, with the 
figure of a nymph, and a face in wdiich sweetness was 
blended with dignity. Moreover, she was very well 
educated, was pious and modest, and the possessor of 
all the family virtues. In short, she was a model 
wife and mother. She wrote to the Emperor a letter 
of thanks that touched him. He answered it, Jan- 
uary 27 : " My Daughter, — Your letter is as amia- 
ble as you are yourself. My feelings for jou will 
only grow from day to day; this I know from my 
pleasure in recalling your fine qualities, and from the 
need I feel for your frequent assurance that you are 
satisfied with every one and happy with your hus- 
band. Amid all I have to do, nothing will be dearer 
to me than the chance to assure my children's happi- 
ness. Be sure, Augusta, that I love you like a father, 
and that I count on a daughter's affection for me. 
Travel slowly, and be careful in the new climate 
when you get there, and take plenty of rest." 

January 21, Prince Eugene left Munich with his 
young wife for Milan. The next day M. Otto, the 
French Minister, wrote to M. de Talleyrcind : '' His 
Imperial Highness Prince Eugene left yesterday 
morning with his young wife. The King escorted 



192 COURT OF THE EMPBE88 JOSEPHINE. 

them to their carriage with every indication of affec- 
tion. It was noticed that in taking leave of the 
Prince he embraced him several times. The separa- 
tion cost the Princess some tears. Their departure 
was announced by firing a hundred guns. The best 
wishes of all good Bavarians accompanied the pair. 
The stay of the French court at Munich has left the 
deepest and most lasting impression. The Emperor's 
greatness and power were known, but the effect of 
his extreme kindness and magnificence had to be seen 
at a closer view to be appreciated. I feel able to 
assure His Majesty that the Bavarian nation will 
always be his faithful and devoted allies. So many 
happy memories are attached to this period of our 
history that His Majesty can flatter himself that he 
has accomplished the most difficult of all conquests, 
— that of the love of the people who have witnessed 
his successes." 

While the Viceroy and Vice-Queen of Italy were 
proceeding towards Milan, the Emperor and the Em- 
press were on their way to France, stopping at Stutt- 
gart and Carlsruhe, where they were warmly greeted. 
January 20, 1806, they found an arch of triumph 
built on a Roman model at Entzberg, in Baden. It 
bore this inscription : Imperatori Napoleoni trium- 
phatori augusto. The bas-relief represented the cap- 
ture of Ulm and the delivery of the keys of Vienna. 
Columns and obelisks had been erected at Carlsruhe 
with these inscriptions : Mostium victori. — Patriam 
servavit. — Pacem restitidt. In front of the castle had 



THE MABRIAGE OF PRINCE EUGENE. 193 

been built a temple of Peace. At the French frontier 
stood an arch of triumph with this inscription : Heroi 
reduei Gallice plaudimf, — " Gaul applauds the return- 
ing hero." The bas-reliefs represented the battle of 
Austerlitz and the interview between the two Em- 
perors. In the night of January 26, Napoleon and 
Josephine were back at the Tuileries. Prince Eu- 
gene's marriage put a happy ending to the campaign 
just finished. To create a king and to give to his 
step-son the hand of this king's daughter was a stroke 
of imagination on Napoleon's part that did honor to 
his omnipotence. The accounts of the triumphal fes- 
tivities in Munich, Stuttgart, and Carlsruhe followed 
close upon the bulletins announcing the victories of 
the Grand Army, and produced a great impression in 
both Germany and France. 



k 



XVII. 

PARIS IN THE BEGINNING OF 1806. 

NAPOLEON arranged his return with the utmost 
skill. His prolonged stay at Munich kept alive 
the impatience of the Parisians for his return, and 
meanwhile there was a constant stream of iattery 
and enthusiasm. January 1, 1806, had just put an 
end to the Republican calendar, which had existed 
for thirteen years, three months, and a few days. 
The Year XIV. found itself suddenly interrupted by 
the return to the Gregorian calendar. Thus yanished 
the last trace of the Republic. The same day the new 
year was inaugurated with a patriotic ceremony. The 
Tribune carried with great solemnity to the Senate 
the forty-four Russian and Austrian flags which the 
hero of Austerlitz had entrusted to its care. All the 
houses in the streets through which the procession 
Avas to pass were decorated. In front of many of 
them were to. be seen the Emperor's bust crowned 
with laurels. The ever lyrical Moniteur said : " At 
the sight of these noble spoils, these startling proofs 
of the heroism of the French army, all hearts seemed 
to meet in a common feeling of admiration and grati- 
194 



PARIS IN THE BEGINNING OF 180G. 195 

tude which was but faintly expressed by the shouts 
issuing from the crowd and from every window, of 
' Long live the Emperor ! ' ' Hurrah for the Grand 
Army ! ' ' Victory, victory ! ' ' Long live the Empe- 
ror ! ' It was in this way that the people of Paris, 
of all classes, of both sexes, of all ages, manifested 
in the most vivid and unanimous way their devo- 
tion and gratitude to His Majesty and his victorious 
armies." 

One Tribune, M. Joubert, exclaimed : " Is not Napo- 
leon the man of history, the man of all ages ? May 
we not say that there is something supernatural in 
him, since it is true that God disposes of the fate of 
empires, and that Napoleon the Great gladly submits 
everything to Providence and ascribes everything to 
religion?" Li their official enthusiasm the Tribunes, 
as accomplished courtiers, made one motion after 
another. One proposed that the Emperor on his 
return should receive triumphal honors, like those of 
ancient Rome, and the city of Paris should go to 
meet hiiii. Another suggested that the sword Avhich 
he wore at the battle of Austerlitz should be solemnly 
consecrated and placed in some public monument. 
Another expressed a desire that on one of the prin- 
cipal places in the city a column should be set up, 
bearing the Emperor's statue, with this inscription : 
" To Napoleon the Great, the grateful country." The 
Senate, with similar zeal, hastened to carry out the 
plan by a decree. 

The Parisians, who always worship success of mon- 



196 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

archs, generals, or artists, then felt the wildest admi- 
ration for the victorious Napoleon. The Moniteur 
was full of dithyrambic eulogies, in prose and verse. 
Flattery appeared as it had never appeared before. 
Bishops became conspicuous for their ardent praise ; 
some phrases from their charges may be quoted. 
Thus the Bishop of Versailles said : " God says : 
' No one shall resist him whom I have clothed with a 
special mission to re-establish my worship, to lead my 
chosen people ; no one will resist him because I am 
with him, and he is with me. Beus cum eo.' " 

The Bishop of Bayonne : ''Behold our enemies 
once more defeated. Let incredulity be silent and 
the atheist confounded. Our annals will be the 
story of the wonders of Providence. . . . Widows, 
cease to bemoan the loss of a loved husband; you 
are not left alone ; you belong to the country. 
Orphans, you have found another father ; Napoleon 
has adopted you." 

The Bishop of Rennes : " Did not those kings 
know, or did they forget in their delirium, that the 
French nation is now the first nation in the world ? 
Did they not know that the man who governs it 
is the most astounding man in the world, and the 
greatest warrior history has ever known ? " 

The Bishop of Coutances : •' The Almighty wishes 
Napoleon to attain this new glory and hence impresses 
upon him a sort of divine character. He wishes him 
to attain it on the same day and at tlie same hour 
that the Sovereign Pontiff, one year ago, poured on 
his brow the holy oil." 



PABIS IN THE BEGINNING OF 1806. 197 

The Bishop of Montpellier : " Let the earth be 
shaken, and the mountains cast into the bosom of 
the seas ; our God blesses the views, the wisdom, the 
talents, and the courage of our august monarch." 

The Emperor, in dividing the flags which he had 
captured from Russia and Austria, had given fifty- 
four to the Senate, eight to the Tribunes, eight to 
the city of Paris, and fifty to the church of Notre 
Dame, which he wished to adorn with his trophies as 
the Marshal of Luxembourg: had done in the reiofn of 
Louis XIV. The day when these fifty flags were 
given to the Cathedral the Cardinal Archbishop of 
France said, " O Posterity, when you read our history 
you will imagine that you are reading anew the fall of 
the walls of Jericho, and listening to the miraculous 
deeds of Joshua, David, and Judas Maccabseus. Ben- 
edictus Dominus qui facit mirahilia solus. . . . God. 
of Marengo, you declare yourself the God of Auster- 
litz ; and the German eagle, the Russian eagle, aban- 
doned by you, became the prey of the French eagle, 
which you never cease to protect." A singular piece 
of flattery this, to call the Creator of the universe — 
of which this earth is not a millionth part — the God 
of a village, because near this village a man has 
wrought the death of many other men ! 

Paris seemed to have recovered its ardor of the 
first days of the Revolution in order to salute the 
triumphant hero. The day of his arrival, January 
27, 1806, the managers of the bank, anxious that his 
presence should be the signal for public prosperity, 



198 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JQSEPHINE. 

ordered the resumption of specie payments. The 
Opera celebrated his return and that of the Empress 
by a grand performance which took place February 4. 
The bills announced the Pretendus and a divertise- 
ment. The public knew that this divertisement was 
to be a sort of apotheosis in honor of the Imperial 
glories. The house was crowded, and the passages 
themselves were crammed by the enthusiastic crowd. 
During the second act of the Pretendus there was 
great excitement over the arrival of Napoleon and 
Josephine. Applause resounded from every side. 
Ladies distributed laurel branches, which all the 
spectators waved, shouting, " Long live the Em- 
peror!" Musicians played the chorus of the Caravan. 
Meanwhile, the scenery of the Pretendus disappeared, 
and applause began over the magnificent decorations 
that took its place. It was a semicircular enclosure 
with trophies forming a colonnade showing the course 
of the Seine from the Pont Neuf to the western limit 
of Paris, showing the Louvre, which Napoleon had 
promised to complete, the Pont des Arts, the Palais 
de la Monnaie, the Tuileries, and in the misty dis- 
tance the Champs Elysees overlooking this fine view. 
The interior of the enclosure was adorned with gar- 
lands and crowded with people, awaiting the return 
of the Grand Army. This appeared with a military 
march: the sappers in front with their axes and 
white aprons ; the grenadiers of the Guard with 
their high fur caps ; the artillerymen with their black 
caps ; the dragoons with their double armor ; the 



PABIS IN THE BEGINNING OF 1806. 199 

Mamelukes with their scimetars. Tlien came the 
Bavarians, worthy comrades of Napoleon's soldiers. 
The people applauded their defenders. Pupils of 
the military schools sprang into the ranks to wel- 
come their fathers, while old men embraced their 
children. A general chorus was heard. Then a 
warrior came to the front of the stage and celebrated 
in a hymn the marvels of the campaign of Austerlitz. 
This Avas followed hj a ballet of foreign nations, in 
which joined French peasants and girls in the dress 
of their provinces, from Caux and Alsace, Provence, 
B^arn, Auvergne, and the Alps. After the dances 
came songs, — the words by Esmenard, author of the 
Navigation^ the music by Stobelt. The marches, 
evolutions, and ballet were arranged by Gardel. The 
principal stanzas were sung by the most distinguished 
artists, Lainez, Lais, Madame Armand, Madame 
Branchu. When it was all over, the Emperor and 
the Empress withdrew amid applause, and there was 
sung the Vivat of Abbe Rose which had made such 
a success at Notre Dame on Coronation Day, and was 
as warmly applauded at the Opera as it had been in 
the Cathedral. 



XVIII. 

THE MAERIAGE OF THE PRINCE OF BADEN. 

IF anything is capable of proving the admiration, 
terror, and fascination that the hero of Austerlitz 
exercised over Europe, and especially over Germany, 
in 1806, it is certainly the marriage of the hereditary 
Prince of Baden with Mademoiselle Stephanie de 
Beauharnais. It was a curious sight! A Prince 
belonging to one of the oldest and most illustrious 
families in the world, whose three sisters had mar- 
ried, one, the Emperor of Russia ; another, the King 
of Sweden ; the third, the King of Bavaria ; a Prince 
who might have allied himself with the oldest reign- 
ing houses had come to regard as an honor a mar- 
riage with the plain daughter of a ^French senator, — 
a girl not united by any ties of blood with Napoleon, 
but only by adoption ; that is to say, by a whim. 
One might have supposed that the Empire of the 
new Charlemagne was centuries (?ld, and the German 
Princes bowed before it like devoted vassals before 
their suzerain. What a vast power he had attained, 
and how easily he could have kept it, if he had lim- 
ited his ambition, and put bounds to his power, and 
200 



MARRIAGE OF THE PRINCE OF BADEN. 201 

had not asked of docile Germany more than it could 
give him ! 

The marriage of Mademoiselle Stephanie do Beau- 
harnais with the hereditary Prince of Baden was at 
first warmly opposed by the Margravine, this Prince's 
mother. M. Massias, French charge d'affaires at 
Baden, had written on this matter to j\I. de Talley- 
rand, Minister of Foreign Affairs, January 6, 1806 : 
" My Lord, — For some days there has been a rumor 
quietly circulating among the principal persons of 
the court of Carlsruhe that the object of M. de 
Thiard's last journey was to arrange the marriage 
of the Electoral Prince of Baden with the daughter 
of Senator Beauharnais. Last evening arrived a mes- 
senger from the Electress of Bavaria for the Margra- 
vine, the mother of this Prince. I have . learned by 
chance the contents of this missive to his mother. 
She says substantially that she has had a talk of more 
than an hour with the Emperor Napoleon ; that His 
Majesty promised that the marriage of the Electoral 
Prince of Baden with Mademoiselle Beauharnais 
should never take place without the consent of the 
Margravine; and in case of her refusal of this con- 
sent, he would only reserve to himself the right of 
being consulted on the choice of the wife to be given 
to this young Priui^e. . . . The Electoral Prince 
called on his mother after she had received this 
despatch, and was with her alone for two hours ; he 
came away in great dejection. When he got to his 
grandfather's, he exclaimed, involuntarily, ' That 
woman is lost; she Avants to ruin herself! ' " 



202 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

The charge d'affaires ended his letter with this 
sketch of the Margravine : "I have known the Mar- 
gravine for six years, and I think I can say that 
if she judges the match in question opposed to the 
pride inspired by the first ideas of her education, no 
persuasion can move her. She possesses to a very 
marked degree the confident obstinacy of feeble and 
timid spirits. She does not dare to dismiss an incom- 
petent footman ; and when she has once made up her 
mind, which is only possible in matters about which 
her opinions are rigidly formed, neither force nor per- 
suasion can modify her. That is my reading of her 
character, and I think it the true one." 

The more the Margravine opposed this match 
which the Emperor had suggested, the more the 
young Prince of Baden and his grandfather, the 
Elector, desired it. M. Massias wrote again to M. de 
Talleyrand, January 9, 1806 : " His Most Serene 
Highness, the Prince Electoral of Baden, is to leave to- 
morrow for Ulm and Augsburg, to invite, in his grand- 
father's name, His Majesty the Emperor and King to 
honor Carlsruhe with his presence, and to stay at the 
castle on his way back to France. But, he tells me 
himself, the main object of his journey is to convince 
His Majesty that the marriage of which I had the 
honor to speak to Your Excellency in my last letter, 
is far from opposing his desires ; and he hopes to dis- 
sipate without difficulty the doubts which it has been 
sought to raise regarding this in the mind of His 
Majesty, for whom he always manifested a profound 
devotion and a sincere attachment." 



MABRIAGE OF THE PIUNCE OF BADEN. 203 

What was the origin of this J^oung girl whose hand 
was thus sought by the hereditary Prince of Baden ? 
The Marquis of Beauharnais, the father of the Vis- 
count of Beauharnais, the first husband of the Empress 
Josephine, had a brother. Count Claude de Beauhar- 
nais, who was a commodore, and married Mademoiselle 
Fanny Mouchard. Countess Fanny, a friend of Dorat 
and Cubieres, took much interest in literature and 
wrote many novels. She was a blue-stocking, and it 
was about her that Lebrun wrote the malicious 
epigram : — 

" Egle, fair and a poetess, has then two slight faults : 
She makes her face and does not make her verses." 

By her marriage with Count Claude de Beauhar- 
nais, the Countess Fanny (born in 1738, died in 
1813) had one son, named Claude after his father, 
who married the daughter of the Count of Lezay- 
Marnesia. They had a daughter, Stephanie de Beau- 
harnais, born August 28, 1789, who was adopted by 
Napoleon, married the hereditary Prince of Baden, 
became the grandduchess of this country, and died 
in 1860, much loved by her family and the people of 
Baden. Her father, Claude de Beauharnais, was a 
senator in the Empire, a peer of France at the Res- 
toration, and died in 1819. 

During the childhood of Mademoiselle Stephanie 
de Beauharnais no one would have predicted the lofty 
destiny that awaited her. Her father, having lost his 
wife, entrusted her to a pious old aunt, who lived at 
Montauban, and there she remained in obscurity until 



204 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

it occurred to her uncle, M. de Lezay-Marnesia, to 
take her to Paris, and present her to the wife of the 
First Consul. Josephine, her cousin once removed, 
thought her pretty and bright, became very fond of 
her, and sent her to finish her education at Madame 
Campan's boarding-school at Saint Germain. Madame 
Campan wrote to Madame Louis about her young pupil 
as follows : " I am certainly surprised at the way Ma- 
demoiselle Stephanie has turned out since she returned 
from Saint Leu. She may become a very charming 
woman, but not if she stays at Saint Cloud. Royal pal- 
aces have never been good schools ; pleasures, the taste 
for excitement and flatter}^, corrupt not merely those 
who are young, but even those who go there already 
matured, unless they are protected by the highest 
principles. If you have the power, do try to let me 
keep Stephanie until she marries ; you will thereby 
render her a great service, and to me, too ; for the 
result will condemn me in the eyes of the Emperor, 
who will say, with a sharp glance, ' That's very bad ' ; 
and will not have time to ascertain the real reason. 
I can assure you that in a year she will be very 
charming, if I can only keep my hand on her." 

Li the same letter Madame Campan thus describes 
her pupil's character: "It is a curious compound 
of ease at learning, self-love, emulation, idleness, 
amiability, clear-mindedness, levity, haughtiness, and 
piety. There are a good many qualities to dispose 
of, and on this proper arrangement depends her hap- 
piness or unhappiness, and my success or failure." 



MARRIAGE OF THE PRINCE OF BADEN . 205 

In personal appearance Mademoiselle de Beauharnais 
was very charming ; she had a good figure, an expres- 
sive countenance, a brilliant complexion, bright blue 
eyes, light hair, and an agreeable voice. Moreover, 
her manners were good, she had keen mother wit, 
much gaiety and enthusiasm, and was, in short, a 
very attractive young person. 

The Emperor had a sort of infatuation for her, 
and treated her with exceptional kindness that did 
not fail to excite comment. Although her father 
was still living, he decided to adopt her, and this 
was thought a singular thing to do. The young 
Stephanie became an Imperial Highness and took 
precedence of the Emperor's sisters, while her father 
was merely one of the herd of senators. In the 
decree of March 3, 1806, it was said: "Our inten- 
tion being that our daughter the Princess Stephanie 
Napoleon, shall enjoy all the prerogatives due to her 
rank ; at receptions, festivities, and at table she shall 
sit at our side, and in our absence she shall take her 
place at the right of Her Majesty the Empress." 
Josephine possibly thought that her young relative 
was a little too well treated by the Emperor, and that 
his feelings for her were not wholly paternal. Evil 
tongues asserted that Napoleon was in love with his 
adopted daughter, but in spite of those malicious in- 
sinuations, no serious charge can be brought against 
her innocence. Her betrothed, the Prince of Baden, 
was madly in love with her, and showed by his con- 
duct that it was he who was making a fine marriage. 



206 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

Mademoiselle de Beauliarnais from the moment that 
she assumed the name of Napoleon imagined that 
nothing was too good for her. It was only by con- 
descension that she married the son of an elector, 
for she was never tired of saying, to her adopted 
father's great delight, that an emperor's daughter 
could maiTy either a king or a king's son. 

The marriage was celebrated with great pomp in 
the chapel of the Palace of the Tuileries, April 8, 
1806, at eight in the evening. The witnesses for the 
bridegroom were the Crown Prince of Bavaria, Baron 
de Gueusau, and M. de Dalberg ; those of the bride 
were M. de Talleyrand, M. de Champagny, and M. 
de Sdgur. The procession went from the grand 
apartments to the chapel in the following order : the 
Empress, preceded by the officers of the Princesses, 
accompanied by the Prince of Baden, the Princesses, 
and the Crown Prince of Bavaria, and followed by 
the ladies of her household and of those of the 
Princesses ; the Emperor, conducting the bride, and 
preceded by the officers of the Princes, his own 
officers, the Grand Dignitaries of the Empire, the 
Ministers, the High Officers of the Crown, and 
followed by the colonel-general of the guard on 
duty. At the chapel door the clergy received Napo- 
leon and Josephine beneath a canopy, and they took 
their places on two small thrones in front of the altar, 
while the Prince of Baden and the bride took their 
places on two stools at the foot of its steps. The 
ceremony began with the blessing of thirteen pieces 



MARRIAGE OF THE PRINCE OF BADEN. 207 

of gold which the Cardinal Caprara, Legate a latere, 
gave to the Prince of Baden, who presented them 
to his bride. The Cardinal gave them the nuptial 
blessing. Meanwhile Monsignor Charier-Lavoche, 
Bishop of Versailles, the Emperor's First Almoner, 
and Monsignor de Broglie, Bishop of Acqui, his 
Almoner in Ordinary, were holding a canopy of 
silver brocade over the head of the kneeling Prince 
and Princess. These two prelates wore a camail 
and rochet. Cardinal Caprara and his assistant, 
Monsignor de Rohan, the Empress's Almoner, wore 
the golden cape. 

During the ceremony, which lasted about an hour, 
the front of the Tuileries and the garden were illu- 
minated. At nine o'clock there w^ere fireworks on 
the Place de la Concorde, which the Emperor and 
Empress watched from the balcony of the Hall of 
the Marshals. As they appeared on the balcony 
with the young people, they were greeted with warm 
applause from the dense crowd in the garden. The 
Empress, who was clad in a dress embroidered witli 
gold, wore on her head, besides the Imperial crown, 
a million francs' worth of pearls. Princess Stephanie 
was charming in her Avhite tulle dress, with silver 
stars, trimmed with orange flowers, and her diamond 
frontlet. After the fireworks came a concert and 
ballet in the Hall of the Marshals. But little atten- 
tion was paid to the concert, although silence pre- 
vailed; the ballet, which was rendered by the best 
dancers from the Opera, was very successful. Then 



208 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

the company went to the Gallery of Diana, where 
tables had been set for two hundred ladies, and a 
magnificent supper was served. The grace and 
distinction of the bride aroused general admiration. 
Her father, Senator Beauharnais, kept silence and 
wept for joy. 

Never had the court been more dazzling with its 
glittering uniforms, gorgeous dresses, and sumptuous 
pomp. The Emperor in his gala dress, the Empress 
in her Imperial splendor, the Princesses vying in 
luxury, the new Queen of Naples staggering under 
her load of precious stones, the Princess Louis covered 
with turquoises set in diamonds, Princess Caroline 
Murat decked with a thousand rubies. Princess Paul- 
ine with all the Borghese diamonds besides her own, 
the ambassadors, grand dignitaries, marshals, gener- 
als, with their coats covered with gold and decorations, 
the chamberlains in red, the master of ceremonies 
in violet, the masters of the hounds in green, the 
equerries in blue, all the ladies in dresses with long 
trains; the two fashionable women, Madame Maret 
and Madame Savary, who each spent fifty thousand 
francs a year in dress ; Madame de Canisy, tall, black- 
haired, bright-eyed, Avith her aquiline nose and her 
impressive air ; Madame Lannes, with her gentle face 
like one of Raphael's Madonnas ; Madame Duchatel, 
fair, with blue eyes ; and that proud duchess of the 
Faubourg Saint Germain, a lady of the palace in 
spite of herself, the Duchess of Chevreuse, who, if 
not the most beautiful woman there, had perhaps the 



MABBIAGE OF THE PBINCE OF BADEN. 209 

grandest air. It was a most animated festivit}^, with 
its flowers, lights, and splendor. The Hall of the 
Marshals was radiant with its military portraits, its 
chandeliers, and air of trinmph. . . . Now consider 
the ruins of this palace of Csesar, this Olympus of 
Jupiter, this sanctuary of glory, majesty, and domin- 
ion. See and reflect ! Nothing is left of all that 
pomp and grandeur ! The proudest buildings have 
vanished ! Such is the end of human splendor ! 



XIX. 

THE NEW QUEEN OF HOLLAND. 

AT the beginning of 1804, Napoleon regarded 
himself the absolute master of fortune. His 
twofold title of Emperor of the French and King of 
Italy no longer sufficed him ; he j^earned for that of 
Emperor of the West. He created kings, grand 
dukes, sovereign princes. He made his brother 
Joseph King of the Two Sicilies; his brother-in-law 
Murat Grand Duke of Berg and Cleves ; his sister 
Pauline Princess of Guastalla: he conferred the 
principality of Massa upon his sister Elisa, who was 
already in possession of the Duchy of Lucca; his 
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Talleyrand, became 
Prince of Benevento; his Major-General, Berthier, 
Prince of Xeufchatel ; and his brother Joseph's 
brother-in-law, Bernadotte, Prince of Ponte Corvo. 
He also elevated members of his wife's family as 
well as of his own to high positions. Josephine's 
son was Viceroy and son-in-law of a king. Joseph- 
ine's daughter was about to become a queen. 

France, which, fourteen years before, had wanted 
to convert every monarchy into a republic, was now 
210 



THE NEW QUEEN OF HOLLAND. 211 



endeavoring to turn the oldest republics into monarch- 
ies. The illustrious republics of Genoa and Venice 
had become an integral part, the one of the French 
Empire, the other of the Kingdom of Italy. The 
Batavian Republic was about to be transformed into 
the Kingdom of Holland. When it became known in 
Paris that this new kingdom was to be created by the 
Emperor's will, people wondered who was to fill the 
throne ; some Avere betting on Louis Bonaparte ; 
others on his brother Jerome ; still others on Murat. 
The Emperor, however, had settled the question, and 
without even consulting him, had decided that Louis 
was to be King of Holland. 

This new monarch, who was born September 2, 
1778, was then twent3^-seven years old. Four years 
before he had married Josephine's daughter, Hortense 
de Beauharnais, but the marriage had been an un- 
happy one. As he himself wrote, his marriage was 
celebrated in sadness. The author of a very remark- 
able study, Holland and King Louis ^ M. Albert 
Reville, says with great truth : " Like Hortense, 
Louis had literary tastes ; but there the resemblance 
ceases. It was not that there was nothing romantic 
in Hortense's character ; she was among the first to 
become interested in the Middle Ages, the Gothic 
revival, the imitation of the troubadours; but her 
romanticism was wholly different from that of her 
husband. Her ideal was, perhaps, a young and hand- 
some soldier, pensive when away from the lady of his 
thoughts, but not when in her company." M. Reville 



212 COURT OF THE JEMPBESS JOSEPHINE. 

goes on : " Such a character could not understand the 
sensitiveness, the shrinking, morbid melancholy of 
the husband thrust upon her. Her gaiety, her devo- 
tion to pleasure, the frivolity of her talk, could only 
pain more and more a man of a gloomy temperament, 
who took the greatest care of his health, v^ho fretted 
himself over the most trivial details, and whose dis- 
trust amounted to injustice." 

Hortense was expansive, merry, ardent, enthusias- 
tic, young in heart and mind, a thoroughly open 
nature. Her husband, on the other hand, was of a 
morose, sombre, melancholy, reserved nature. In 
spite of her superior intelligence Hortense had a sort 
of childlike air; but Louis, thou.gh young in years, 
had the character and appearance of an old man. As 
much as Hortense loved liberty, her suspicious hus- 
band wished to hold firmly the reins of conjugal au- 
thority. He was prematurely afflicted with various 
infirmities, almost always morbidly nervous and im- 
pressionable, disposed to take a dark view of every- 
thing, and bore no resemblance to the type of hero 
which Hortense had imagined. Moreover, the un- 
happy husband endured a hidden anguish which he 
had to conceal from every one and which tortured his 
heart ; he imagined that his rival with his wife was 
his own brother. Napoleon. Thiers says in discuss- 
ing this delicate subject : " Louis, ill, puffed-up with 
pride, assuming virtue and really upright, pretended 
that he was sacrificed to the infamous necessity of 
covering, by his marriage, the weakness of Hortense 



THE NEW QUEEN OF HOLLAND. 213 



de Beauliarnais for Napoleon, — an odious calumn}^, 
invented by the Emigres, spread abroad in a thousand 
pamphlets, about which Louis did wrong to betray 
such anxiety that he seemed to believe it himself." 

In a word, there existed between husband and 
wife a real incompatibility of temper, and the con- 
straint of their position only added to the mutual 
repulsion Avhich they felt for each other in private, 
though they did not dare confess it through fear of 
Napoleon's reproaches. They were married January 
4, 1802, and had a son born the next October, whom 
their enemies asserted was the son of the Emperor, 
and the greater the interest and affection the Emperor 
showed to this child, the more freely were calumnies 
circulated. Louis Bonaparte imagined his honor 
tainted, and suffered tortures. 

As for Hortense, she was unhappy, but she had 
consolations. Her mother's love, the society of her 
old schoolmates, her interest in art, worldly successes, 
the distractions of Paris life, made her forget some of 
her domestic troubles. The thought of leaving that 
congenial spot to live alone with her husband in the 
cold dampness of Holland filled her with gloom. She 
did not care for a throne, for she felt that a royal 
palace would be for her nothing but a prison. 

Louis, too, seemed devoid of ambition for the crown 
that was held before him. Annoyed at not being 
consulted in the negotiations on which depended his 
call to the throne, he mamtained a passive attitude. 
But as he was accustomed to comply with every wish 



214 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE 

of a brother who had taken charge of his education, 
and thereby acquired special authority over him, he 
invariably obeyed his orders. The Batavian depu- 
tation, of which the most important member was 
Admiral Verhuel, had just arrived in Paris, and with 
it the Emperor was settling the fate of Holland. 
Baron Ducasse, in an interesting paper in the Revue 
Historique for February, 1880, has recounted all the 
unfortunate Louis Bonaparte's attempts to escape 
having royalty forced upon him. He gave as a pre- 
text for his reluctance, the rights of the old Stadt- 
holder. The Batavian deputation in reply announced 
to him the death of that official. "The hereditary 
Prince," they said, "has received in compensation 
Fulda ; hence you can have no reasonable objection. 
We come, in accordance with the votes of nine-tenths 
of the nation, to beg of you to ally your fate with 
ours, and to prevent our falling into other hands." 
Napoleon used even plainer language. He declared 
to his brother without beating the bush that he had 
accepted for him, and that, even if he had not con- 
sulted him, a subject could not refuse obedience. 

A few days later, Talleyrand, the Minister of For- 
eign Affairs, went to Saint Cloud and read to Louis 
and Hortense the treaty with Holland, and the con- 
stitution of that country. It was of no use for the 
King to say that he could not judge such important 
documents from a simple reading, he was not granted 
a moment's reflection. Li vain he pleaded his health, 
which could not fail to suffer from the damp climate 



THE NEW qUEEN OF HOLLAND. 215 

of Holland. Napoleon was inflexible, and said, "It 
is better to die on a throne than to live a French 
Prince." There was nothing for him to do but to 
give his consent. 

The new King's proclamation was delivered at the 
Palace of the Tuileries in the Throne Room, June 5, 
1806. Early in the same day, the Emperor had for-, 
mally received Mahib Effendi, Ambassador of the 
Sultan Selim. The Oriental diplomatist had greeted 
him as " the first and greatest of Christian monarchs, 
the bright star of glory of the western nations, the 
one who held in a firm hand the sword of valor and 
the sceptre of justice." Napoleon had replied : 
" Whatever good or bad fortune may befall the Otto- 
mans will be fortunate or unfortunate for France. 
Report, I beg of you, my words to the Sultan Selim. 
Bid him never to forget that iwj enemies, who are 
also his, would like to get at him. He has nothing 
to fear from me ; united with me, he need not fear 
the power of any of his enemies." When the audi- 
ence was over, the Ambassador made three deep bows 
and withdrew, but stopped in the next room, where 
the presents of the Grand Porte were set out on a 
table ; they consisted of an aigret of diamonds, and a 
costly box set with gems and adorned with the mono- 
gram of the Sultan. Mahib Eff endi, after offering the 
presents to the Emperor, showed him those sent to 
the Empress. They were a pearl necklace, jDerfumes, 
and Oriental stuffs. Napoleon examined them, and 
then went to the Avindow to see some superbly har- 



216 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

nessed Arabian horses, presented to him in the name 
of the Sultan. 

The proclamation of the King of Holland was read 
a few moments later. Admiral Verhuel took the 
floor and began to speak of the happiness assured to 
his country when it should have made fast the ties 
that bound it to the "immense and immortal Em- 
pire." The Emperor said to the Dutch representa- 
tives : " France has been so generous as to renounce 
all the rights over you which were given it by the 
events of the war, but I cannot confide the fortresses 
that guard my northern frontiers to any unfaithful 
or even uncertain hands. Representatives of the 
Batavian people, I grant the prayer you present to 
me, and proclaim Prince Louis King of Holland." 
Then turning to his brother, he said : " You, Prince, 
reign over this people; their fathers acquired their 
independence only by the constant aid of France. 
Since then Holland was the ally of England ; it was 
conquered ; and still owes its existence to us. She 
will owe to us the kings who protect its laws, its lib- 
erties, its religion ! But do not ever cease to be a 
Frenchman. The dignity of Constable of the Empire 
will ever belong to you and to your descendants ; it 
will define for you your duties towards me and the 
importance I attach to the guard of the fortresses 
protecting the north of my states, which I confide to 
you. Prince, maintain among your troops that spirit 
which I have seen in them on the field of battle. 
Encourage in your new subjects the feelings of union 



THE NEW QUEEN OF HOLLAND. 217 

and love which they ought always to have for France. 
Be the terror of evil-doers and the father of the 
upright ; that is the character of a great king." 

The vassalage of the ncAV monarch was thus defi- 
nitely established; he remained Constable of the 
Empire ; he was ordered to be French and not Dutch. 
His first duties were to the Emperor, his brother and 
suzerain. He respectfully approached the throne, and 
said with evident emotion : " Sire, I have made it my 
highest ambition to sacrifice my life to Your Majesty's 
service. I have made my happiness consist in admir- 
ing all those qualities which make you so dear to 
those who, like me, have so often witnessed the power 
and the effects of your genius; I may then be per- 
mitted to express my regrets in leaving, but my life 
and my wishes belong to you. I shall go to reign 
over Holland, since that nation desires it and Your 
Majesty commands it. I shall be proud to reign over 
it; but, however glorious may be the career thus 
opened to me, the assurance of Your Majesty's con- 
stant protection, the love and patriotism of my new 
subjects, can alone inspire me with the hope of heal- 
ing the wounds of the many wars and events that 
have crowded into a few years." After the royal 
speech the usher threw open the door, and as in the 
time of Louis XIV., at the acceptation of the Spanish 
accession, the new King was announced to the as- 
sembled crowd. 

As M. Albert Rdville says, no one in France re- 
gretted the Batavian Republic when it was stricken 



218 COUBT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE, 

from the roll of history by the will of a despot ; or, 
rather, the Parisians, in their occasionally exagger- 
ated infatuation, fancied that the Dutch would be 
overjoyed to have a French court. 

The next day, after breakfast, the Emperor was 
playing with the ncAV King's oldest son, the little 
Napoleon, who was only three years and a half old, 
but was very bright for his age, and already knew by 
heart La Fontaine's fables. The Emperor made him 
recite the fable about the frogs who wanted a king, 
and listened to it, laughing loudly. He pinched the 
Queen's ear, and asked her, "What do you say to 
that, Hortense?" The allusions to the poor king 
and to his poor people were only too clear. The 
melancholy monarch, or rather, the crowned mon- 
arch, was to be, according to the Emperor's plan, a 
mere tool in the hands of his powerful brother. He 
was condemned to discharge the functions of receiver 
of dues and of recruiting officer in the Emperor's ser- 
vice. He had a presentiment of this degraded posi- 
tion, and took his departure with much anxiety. 

For Hortense, leaving was sadder. No exile ever 
turned towards foreign parts with heavier sorrow. 
Her diadem was a crown of thorns. Her mother's 
grief augmented her own. Without her children, 
Josephine, naturally unambitious, found no consola- 
tion in the thought that her son was a Viceroy, her 
daughter a Queen. Before she left Paris Hortense, 
in terror before the thought that the Emperor would 
no longer be near to defend her, told her all her 



THE NEW QUEEN OF HOLLAND. 219 

domestic unliappiness, and said that if her husband 
treated her too ill, she would abandon her throne for 
a convent. 

Nevertheless she had to obey. June 15, 1806, 
Louis started from Saint Leu to go to his kingdom. 
He was accompanied by his wife and his two sons, the 
elder, Charles Napoleon, who died in Holland the 5th 
of the next May, and the other, Louis Napoleon, who 
died at Forte, in 1831, in the insurrection of the 
States of the Church against the Pope. His third 
son, later Napoleon TIL, was born in 1808. The new- 
King entered The Hague June 23, 1806. He coun- 
termanded a body of French troops which the Em- 
peror had designed for his escort at his entrance into 
the capital, being unwilling to appear before his sub- 
jects as a sovereign imposed upon them by actual 
force. " You may be sure," he said to them, " that 
from the moment I set foot on the soil of this king- 
dom, I became a Dutchman." The same day General 
Dupont Chaumont, French Minister at The Hague, 
wrote to Prince Talleyrand : ^' To-day, June 23, His 
Majesty made his formal entrance into his capital. 
He went to the Assembly where he recieved the oath 
of the representatives of the people and made a 
speech which was much applauded. The French 
camp obtained permission from the Governor of the 
Palace to surprise Their Majesties by fireworks and 
military music. These festivities naturally put a 
stop to all business, except for His Majesty, who 
finds time to examine and decide the most urgent 



220 COURT OF THE E3IPBESS JOSEPHINE. 

matters, the ease with which he works greatly sur- 
prising a nation unaccustomed to such activity. 
Ah-eady the King and Queen are spoken of most 
enthusiastically by those who have had the honor to 
be presented to Their Majesties. The satisfaction 
will be general, when many shall have had the op- 
portunity to approach the throne." 

In spite of the optimisms of this despatch, the new 
King Avas to have an unhappy reign. His loyal and 
upright intentions were to be shattered against the 
inflexible will of his formidable brother. Louis was 
a just man and sincerely devoted to his people. He 
was called, and is still called, " the good King Louis " ; 
but the Emperor, who ironically reproached him with 
trying to win the affection of shopkeepers, was to 
write to him in 1807 : " A monarch who is called a 
good king, is a king that's ruined." As for Queen 
Hortense, more and more tormented by her husband's 
suspicions, with her health impaired by the moist 
climate, and her ever-growing melancholy, she was 
to feel like a condemned exile in her kingdom. No 
woman ever g-ave a completer lie to the expression, 
"As happy as a queen." 



XX. 

THE EMPRESS AT MAYENCE. 

IN spite of all the honors that encompassed her, 
the Empress was ever more and more unhappy. 
The departure of her daughter Hortense left a void 
in her life that nothing could fill. She wrote to the 
new Queen from Saint Cloud, July 15, 1806 : "Since 
you left I have been ill, sad, and unhappy ; I have 
even been feverish and have had to keep my bed. I 
am now well again, but my sorrow remains. How 
could it be otherwise when I am separated from a 
daughter like you, loving, gentle, and amiable, who 
was the charm of my life ? . . . How is your husband? 
Are my grandchildren well ? Heavens, how sad it 
makes me not to see them ! and how is your health, 
dear Hortense ? If you are ever ill, let me know, 
and I will hasten to you at once. . . . Good by, my 
dear Hortense, think often of your mother, and be 
sure that never was a daughter more loved than you 
are. Many kind messages to your husband ; kiss the 
children for me. It would be very kind of you to 
send me some of your songs." 

Josephine was about to have another cause for 

221 



222 COUBT OF Tim EMPMESS JOSEPHINE. 

grief. A new war was imminent, but the Empress 
hid her uneasiness in order not to distance Hor tense. 
"All your letters," she wrote to her, "are charming, 
and you are kind to write so often. I have heard 
from Eugene and his wife ; they are evidently very 
happy, and so am I, for I am going with the Emperor, 
and am already packing. I assure you, that even if 
this war breaks out, I have no fear; the nearer 1 am 
to the Emperor, the less I shall care, and I feel that 
I should die if I stayed here. Another joy to me is 
our meeting at Mayence. The Emperor has bidden 
me tell you that he has just given to the King of 
Holland an army of eighty thousand men, and his 
command will extend to Mayence. He thinks that 
you can come then and stay with me. Is not that an 
agreeable bit of news for a mother who loves you so 
dearly? Every day we shall have news of the Em- 
peror and your husband ; we Avill be happy together. 
The Grand Duke of Berg spoke to me about jou and 
the children ; kiss them for me till I can kiss them 
for myself, as well as my daughter ; this Avill be 
soon, I hope. My best regards to the King." 

Napoleon was about to begin a gigantic war against 
Prussia and Russia. In spite of his confidence in his 
star, he was not without some apprehensions, and he 
left reluctantly. • A cloud seemed to hang over Saint 
Cloud. " Why are you so gloomy ? " the Emperor 
asked Madame de R^musat, whose husband, the First 
Chamberlain, had just been sent to Mayence to pre- 
pare the Emperor's quarters. " I am gloomy," she 



THE EMPBESS AT MAYENCE. 223 



replied, "because my husband has left me." And 
as Napoleon sneered at her conjugal devotion, she 
added ; " Sire, I take no part in heroic joys, and for 
my part, I had placed my glory in happiness." Then 
the Emperor burst out laughing and said : " Happi- 
ness ? Oh yes, happiness has a great deal to do with 
this century ! " 

The Empress hoped to accompany her husband as 
far as Mayence, and remain there during the war, 
with her daughter. At the last moment she came 
near missing even this. Napoleon wanted to go off 
alone, but she wept so much, besought him so 
earnestly, that he took pity on her and gave her 
leave to enter his carriage ; she had but a single 
chambermaid with her. Her household was to join 
her some days later. 

Napoleon and Josephine left Saint Cloud in the 
night of September 24, 1806. Aflfer stopping for 
some hours at Metz, they reached Mayence the 28th. 
The Emperor started again, October 2, at nine in the 
evening, for the head of the army. At this moment 
he had an access of affection and a revival of his old 
tenderness for the woman who long since had inspired 
him with much love. Seeing that she was weeping 
bitterly, he, too, shed tears, and was even attacked by 
convulsions. They made him sit down and gave him 
a few drops of orange-flower water. In a few mo- 
ments he controlled his emotion, gave Josephine a 
farewell kiss, and said : " The carriages are ready, are 
they not ? Tell those gentlemen and let us be off." 



224 COUBT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

The Empress remained at Mayence. Napoleon 
wrote to her October 5, 1806 : " There is no reason 
why the Princess of Baden should not go to May- 
ence. I don't know why you are so distressed; it is 
wrong of you to grieve so much. Hortense is inclined 
to pedantry ; she is liberal with advice. She wrote 
to me, and I answered her. She should be happy 
and gay. Courage and gaiety, that is the recipe." 
It is plain that the Emperor's gloom had been of 
brief duration. When he was once more at war, in 
his element, he had quickly resumed his customary 
eagerness. He wrote to his wife from Bamberg, 
October 7 : " I leave this evening for Kronach. The 
whole army is in motion. All goes on well; my 
health is perfect. I have not yet received any letters 
from you, but I have heard from Eugene and Hor- 
tense. Stephanie ought to be with you. Her hus- 
band [the Prince of Baden] wishes to take part in 
the war; he is with me. Good by. A thousand 
kisses and good health ! " Again, October 18 : " To- 
day I am at Gera. Everything goes on as well as I 
could hope. With God's aid, the poor King of Prus- 
sia will be in a lamentable state, I think. I am 
personally sorry for him, because he is a good man. 
The Queen is at Erfurt with the King. If she wants 
to see a battle, she will have that cruel pleasure. I 
am wonderfully well, and have gained flesh since 
I left; and yet I go twenty or twenty-five leagues 
every day, on horseback or in a carriage, — in every 
possible way. I go to bed at eight and get up at 



THE EMPRESS AT MAYENCE. 225 

miclniglit, sometimes, I think, before you have gone 
to bed. Ever yours." 

In these campaigns Napoleon was not yet sur- 
rounded by the comforts which later made war less 
fatiguing for him, perhaps too easy. He endured all 
the toil and privation of a private soldier. In five 
minutes his table, his coffee, his bed were prepared. 
Often in less time than that the bodies of men and 
horses had to be removed to make room for his tent. 
His longest meal lasted no more than eight or ten 
minutes. The Emperor would then call for horses 
and leave in company with Berthier, one or two riders, 
and Roustan, his faithful Mameluke. At night, when 
lying on his little iron bed, he took but little rest. 
Hardly had he fallen asleep when he would call his 
valet de chambre who slept in the same tent : " Con- 
stant I " " Sire." " See what aide-de-camp is on duty." 
" Sire, it is so-and-so." " Tell him to come and speak 
to me." The aide-de-camp would arrive : " You must 
go to such a corps, commanded by Marshal so-and-so ; 
you will tell him to place such a regiment in such a 
position ; you vv^ill ascertain the position of the enemy, 
then you will report to me." The Emperor seemed 
to fall asleep again, but in a few moments he was call- 
ing again : " Constant ! " " Sire." " Summon the 
Prince of Neufch^tel." The Major-General would 
appear in a great hurry, and Napoleon would dictate 
some orders to him. That is the way his nights were 
passed. 

The night before the battle of Jena was an excep- 



226 COUBT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

tion, and the Emperor slept soundly. " Yet," says 
General de Segur, '^ our position was so perilous that 
some of us said the enemy could have thrown a bullet 
across all our lines with the hand. This was so true 
that the first cannon-ball fired the next day passed 
over our heads and killed a cook at his canteen far 
behind us." At about five o'clock Napoleon asked 
of Marshal Soult : '' Shall we beat them? " "Yes, if 
they are there," answered the Marshal ; '' I am only 
afraid they have left." At that moment, the first 
musketry fire was heard. " There they are ! " said the 
Emperor, joyfully ; " there they are I the business is 
beginning." Then he went to address the infantry, 
encouraging them to crush the famous Prussian cav- 
alry. "This cavalry," he said, "must be destroyed 
here, before our squares, as we crushed the Russian 
infantry at Austerlitz." The victory Avas overwhelm- 
ing. Napoleon thus recounted it in a letter to the 
Empress, dated Jena, October 16, at three in the 
morning : " My dear, I have done some good manoeu- 
vring against the Prussians. Yesterday I gained a 
great victory. They were one hundred and fifty 
thousand men ; I have made twenty thousand pris- 
oners, captured one hundred cannon and flags. I was 
facing the King of Prussia and very near him ; I just 
missed capturing him and the Queen. I have been 
bivouacldng for two days. I am wonderfully well. 
Good by, my dear, keep well and love me. If Hor- 
tense is at Mayence, give her a kiss as well as Napo- 
leon and the little one." And again from Weimar, 



'rBE EMPBESS AT MAYENCE. 227 

October 16 : " M. Talleyrand will have shown you 
the bulletin and you will have seen our success. 
Everything has turned out as I planned, and never 
was an army more thoroughly beaten and destroyed. 
I mil only add that I am well ; that fatigue, watching, 
and the bivouac have made me stouter. Good by, 
my dear, much love to Hortense and the great 
Napoleon." 

Hortense had joined her mother at Maj^ence with 
her two sons, meeting there her relative, Princess 
Stephanie of Baden, the Princess of Nassau and her 
daughters, many generals' wives, who had desired to 
be near the scene of war to get early news. With 
what impatience tidings were awaited ! With what 
curiosity and respect were read and discussed the two 
or three words scrawled by the hand of the Emperor 
or of his lieutenants ! A lookout had been placed a 
league away on the high-road, who announced the 
coming of a messenger by blowing on a liorn. At 
the same time the files of prisoners were seen passing 
on their way to France. Josephine, ever kind and 
pitiful, tried to soften their lot and gave aid and com- 
fort to officers and soldiers. 

Meanwhile Napoleon continued his triumphal 
march. From Wittenberg he wrote to his wife, 
October 23: "I have received a number of letters 
from you. I write but a word : everything goes on 
well. To-morroAv I shall be at Potsdam, the 25th at 
Berlin. I am perfectly well ; fatigue agrees with me. 
I am glad to hear of you in company together with 



228 count OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

Hortense and Stephanie. The weather has so far 
been very pleasant. Much love to Stephanie and 
to every one, including M. Napoleon. Good by, my 
dear. Ever yours." 

At Potsdam the Emperor visited the celebrated 
palace of Sans Souci and found the room of Frederick 
the Great as it had been in his lifetime, and guarded 
by one of his old servants. He then went to the 
Protestant church which contained the hero's tomb. 
" The door of the monument was open," says General 
de Sdgur. " Napoleon paused at the entrance, in a 
grave and resjpectful attitude. He gazed into the 
shadow enclosing the hero's ashes, and stood thus 
for nearly ten minutes, motionless, silent, as if buried 
in deep thought. There were five or six of us with 
him : Duroc, Caulaincourt, an aide-de-camp, and I. 
We gazed at this solemn and extraordinary scene, 
imagining the two great men face to face, identifying 
ourselves with the thoughts we ascribed to our Em- 
peror before that other genius whose glory survived 
the overthrow of his work, who was as great in ex- 
treme adversity as in success." The eighteenth bul- 
letin said of this tomb: "The great man's remains 
are enclosed in a wooden coffin covered with copper, 
and are placed in a vault, with no ornaments, trophies, 
or other distinction recalling his great actions." The 
Emperor presented to the Invalides in Paris Freder- 
ick's sword, his ribbon of the Black Eagle, his gen- 
eral's sash, as well as the flags carried by his guard 
in the Seven Years' War. The old veterans of the 



THE EMPRESS AT MAYENCE. 229 

army of Hanover received with religious respect 
everything which had belonged to one of the first 
captains whose memory is recorded in history." 
When he saw that the Prussian court had not 
thought of making those relics safe from invasion, 
the hero of Jena, who on this occasion abused his 
victory, exclaimed as he pointed to the famous sword: 
"I prefer that to twenty millions." In his letters to 
Josephine, Napoleon made no mention of his impres- 
sions in the house of Frederick. He simply wrote, 
October 24 : "I have been at Potsdam since yester- 
day, and shall spend to-day here. I continue to be 
satisfied with everything. My health is good ; the 
weather is fine. I find Sans Souci very agreeable. 
Good by, my dear. Much love to Hortense and M. 
Napoleon." 

October 27, 1806, the Emperor made his formal 
entrance into Berlin, surrounded by his guard and 
followed by the cuirassiers of the divisions of Haut- 
poul and Nansouty. He proceeded in triumph from 
the Charlottenburger gate to the King's Palace, of 
which he was to take possession. The populace 
crowded the streets, but uttered no cries of hate or 
flattery for the conqueror. " Prussia was happy," 
says Thiers, '' at not being divided, and at retaining 
its dignity in its disasters. The enemy's entrance 
was not first the overthrow of one party and the 
triumph of another; it contained no unworthy fac- 
tion, indulging in odious joy and a^Dplauding the 
presence of foreign soldiers ! We Frenchmen, un- 



230 COUBT OF THE E3IPBESS JOSEPHINE. 

happier in our defeats, have known this abominable 
joy ; for we have seen everything in this century : the 
extremes of victory and of defeat, of grandeur and 
of abasement, of the purest devotion and of the 
blackest treachery ! " Alas ! What Frenchman could 
have foretold in 1806 the disasters of 1814 and 1815 ? 
The army deemed itself invincible and was wild with 
joyful pride. Davout, whose men the Emperor had 
just congratulated, wrote to him in great enthusiasm : 
"Sire, we are your tenth legion. Everywhere and 
at all times the third corps will be for you what 
that legion was for Csesar." Never did soldiers 
have greater enthusiasm or more confidence in their 
leader. 

One might have said that Josephine, amid all these 
triumphs, had a presentiment of the future. Victo- 
ries could not dispel her sadness. Her husband 
wrote to her November 1 : " Talleyrand has come, 
and tells me that you do nothing but cry. But what 
do you want ? You have your daughters, your 
grandchildren, and good news ; certainly you have the 
materials for happiness and content. The weather 
here is superb; not a drop of rain has fallen in the 
whole campaign. I am in good health, and every- 
thing is progressing favorably. Good by. I have 
received a letter from M. Napoleon ; I don't think it 
is from him but from Hortense. Love to all." 

Napoleon was not modest in his triumph. He pur- 
sued with sarcasms the nobility of Prussia and Queen 
Louise who had warmly counselled war. This fair 



THE EMPBESS AT MAYENCE, 231 

sovereign, the mother of the late Emperor William, 
was then thirty years old ; she was the daughter of a 
Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and of a Princess of 
Hesse-Darmstadt. She was a most thorough German, 
hated France, and especially the French Revolution. 
She was a fearless horsewoman, and had been seen 
facing great dangers at the battle of Jena. When 
she rode before her troops in her helmet of polished 
steel, shaded by a plume, in her glittering golden 
cuirass, her tunic of silver stuff, her red boots with 
gold spurs, she resembled Tasso's heroines. The 
soldiers burst into cries of enthusiasm, as they saw 
their warlike Queen; before her were bowed the 
flags she had embroidered with her own hands, and 
the old, torn, and battle-stained standards of Fred- 
erick the Great. After the battle she Avas obliged 
to take flight, at full gallop, to avoid being captured 
by the French hussars. 

In his bulletins the Emperor had made the serious 
blunder of speaking of Queen Louise in a manner 
wanting in proper respect for a woman, and especially 
for a woman in misfortune. Josephine, who was full 
of tact, was much pained by this lack of generosity, 
and reproached her husband for it. Napoleon sought 
to excuse himself, writing, November 6 : "I have 
received your letter in which you seem pained by the 
evil I say of women. It is true that I hate, more 
than anything, intriguing women. I am used to 
kindl}', gentle, conciliating women ; those are the 
ones I love. If they have spoiled me, it is not my 



232 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE, 

fault, but yours. Now I will show you that I have 
been very good for one who has shown herself sensible 
and kind, Madame Hatzfeld. When I showed her 
her husband's letter, bursting into tears, she said to 
me with great emotion and simplicity: 'It is cer- 
tainly his hand-writing ! ' As she read it, her accent 
touched my heart and gave me real distress. I said 
to her: 'Well, Madame, throw that letter into the 
fire, I shall not be strong enough to punish your hus- 
band,' She burned the letter and seemed to be very 
happy. Her husband has ever since been very calm ; 
two hours more, and he would have been a ruined 
man. You see then that I love kind, simple, gentle 
women ; but it's because they are like you. Good by, 
my dear, I am well." 

The kingdom of Prussia was conquered, but the 
war was not over. After fighting the Prussians he 
had to fight the Russians ; the war in Poland was 
beginning. Napoleon wrote to the King of Prussia : 
" Your Majesty has announced to me that you have 
thrown yourself into the arms of the Russians. The 
future will decide w^hether this is the best and wisest 
choice. You have taken the dice-box and thrown 
the dice ; the dice will decide it." At Paris, in spite 
of the splendors of the Imperial glory, there existed 
a vague uneasiness. Peace had been expected after 
Jena, and some apprehension was felt about the 
renewal of the struggle in the northern steppes. 
Madame de R^musat wrote, November 9, to her hus- 
band, who was at Mayence with the Empress, " There 



THE EMPBESS AT MAYENCE. 233 

is something in the Emperor's career which confounds 
ordinary calculations, and, so to speak, goes beyond 
them. It is most impressive, and, I might say, alarm- 
ing, and yet he seems so far above customary condi- 
tions that there is no need of fear about the points to 
which he exposes himself, and still less, draw the line 
at which he shall stop. But I shudder to think how 
far he is from us at this moment. May God be with 
him, I am ever praying, and preserve him ! While 
this great part of the French nation which is under 
his orders, is marching to great victories, we are veg- 
etating here in complete dulness. There is very 
little society, and no houses are open." 

Josephine was very anxious to join her husband 
who held it before her as ji possibility, but never per- 
mitted it. He had written to her, November 16 : "I 
am glad to see that my views please you. You were 
wrong to think I was flattering ; I spoke of you as 
you seem to me. I am sorry to think that you are 
bored at Mayence. If the journey Avas not so long 
you might come here, for the enemy has left, and is 
beyond the Vistula ; that is to say, one hundred and 
twenty leagues from here. I will await your decision. 
I shall be glad to see M. Napoleon. Good by, my 
dear. Ever yours." And November 22 : " Be satis- 
fied and happy in my friendship, in all I feel for you. 
In a few days I shall decide to summon you or to 
send you to Paris. Good by. You may go now, if 
you wish, to Darmstadt and Frankfort ; that will 
amuse you. Much love to Hortense." After sign- 



284 COUBT OF THE EMPBESS JOSEPHINE. 

ing the decree establishing the continental blockade, 
Napoleon had left Berlin November 25. The next 
day he again held before Josephine the prospect of 
a sj)eedy meeting. "I am at Custrin," he said in 
his letter, " to make some reconnoissances ; I shall see 
yon in two days if you are to come. You can hold 
yourself in readiness. I shall be glad to have the 
Queen of Holland come too. The Grand Duchess 
of Baden must write to her husband about coming. 
It is two o'clock in the morning ; I have just got up. 
That is the way at war. Much love to you and every 
one." A letter from Meseritz, March 27, was still 
more explicit : " I am going to make a trip through 
Poland ; this is the most important city here. I shall 
be at Posen this evening, after which I summon you to 
Berlin, that you may arrive there the same day. My 
health is good, the weather rather bad; it has been 
raining for three days. Matters are in a good condi- 
tion. The Russians are in flight." Josephine, who 
had trembled with joy at the thought of seeing her 
husband, fell into great gloom when she saw that she 
had been deceived by a vain hope. The tortures of, 
alas ! too well-founded jealousy were to be added to 
her sufferings ! 

Napoleon reached Posen November 28, and wrote 
the next day to his wife : " I am at Posen, the 
capital of Great Poland. The cold is beginning ; I 
am well. I am going to make a trip in Poland. My 
troops are at the gates of Warsaw. Good by, my 
dear, much love. I kiss you with all my heart. 



THE EMPRESS AT MAYENCE. 235 

To-day is the anniversary of Austerlitz. I have 
been at a ball given by the city. It is raining. I 
am well. I love you and long for you. My troops 
are at Warsaw. It has not yet been cold. All the 
Polish women are Frenchwomen, but there is only 
one woman for me. Do you know her? I should 
draw her portrait for you ; but I should have to 
flatter it too much for you to recognize it ; neverthe- 
less, to tell the truth, my heart would have only 
good things to tell you. I find the nights long in 
my solitude. Ever yours." Perhaps Napoleon would 
not have been so amiable to Josephine had it not 
been that he was going to be very unfaithful to her 
in Poland, and in a movement of pity wanted to 
console her in advance. From there he sent her, 
December 3, two letters, one at noon, the other 
at six in the evening. This is the first : " I have 
your letter of November 26. I notice two things: 
you say, don't read your letters ; that is unjust. I 
am sorry for your bad opinion. You tell me you 
are not jealous. I have long observed that people 
who are angry always say that they are not angry, 
that people who are afraid sa}^ they are not afraid; 
so 3^ou are convicted of jealousy; I am delighted! 
Besides, you are mistaken, and in the deserts of fair 
Poland one thinks but little about pretty women. 
Yesterday I was at a ball of the nobility of the 
province ; rather pretty women, rather rich, rather 
ill dressed, although in the Paris fashion." Perhaps 
Napoleon said that to reassure the Empress ; I 



236 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

imagine that the Polish women, with all their ele- 
gance and grace, were scarcely so ill-di'essed as he 
pretended. 

This is the second letter, dated December 3, 6 p.m. : 
" I have your letter of November 27, and I see that 
your little head is much excited. I remember the 
line : ' A woman's wish is a devouring flame,' and 
I must calm you. I wrote to you that I was in 
Poland, that when we should have got into winter- 
quarters you might come ; so you must wait a few 
days. The greater one becomes, the less will one 
must have ; one depends on events and circumstances. 
You may go to Frankfort or Darmstadt. I hope to 
summon you in a few days, but events must decide. 
The warmth of your letter convinces me that you 
pretty women take no account of obstacles; what 
you want must be ; but I must say that I am the 
greatest slave that lives ; my master has no heart, 
and this master is the nature of things." Napoleon 
should have said : Providence. Man proposes, but 
God disposes. 

Napoleon again spoke a little of having Josephine 
come. He wrote to her December 10 : " An officer 
has brought me a rug from you; it is a little short 
and narrow, but I am no less grateful to you for it. 
I am fairly well. The weather is very changeable. 
Everything is in good condition. I love you and 
am very anxious to see you. Good by, m}^ dear ; I 
shall write to you to come with more pleasure than 
you will come." 



THE EMPRESS AT MAYENCE. 237 

December 12 he spoke once more of this projected 
journey which became ever more and more remote, 
like a mirage in the desert : " My health is good, 
the weather very mild ; the bad season has not begun, 
but the roads are bad in a country where there are 
no highways. So Hortense will come with Napoleon ; 
I am delighted. I am impatient to have things settle 
themselves so that you can come. I have made peace 
with Saxony. The Elector is King and belongs to 
the confederation. Good by, my dearest Josephine. 
Yours ever. A kiss to Hortense, to Napoleon, and 
to Stephanie. Paer, the famous musician, his wife, 
whom you saw at Milan twelve years ago, and Brizzi, 
are here; they give me some music every evening." 
Napoleon left Posen in the middle of December. 
The evening before his departure he wrote a letter 
to his wife which showed the unlikelihood of her 
joining him, as she hoped to do ; " I am leaving for 
Warsaw, and shall be back in a fortnight. I hope 
then to have you here. Still, if that is too long I 
should be glad to have you return to Paris where 
you are needed. You know that I have to depend 
on events." The unhappy Josephine already had a 
foreboding of his devotion to a great Polish lady. 

Napoleon reached Warsaw December 18, 1806. 
He was to stay there till the 23d, return there Jan- 
uary 2, 1807, and not to go away till the 31st of that 
month. He was greeted there with enthusiasm. He 
had said to his soldiers in his proclamation on enter- 
ing Poland : '' The French eagle is soaring above the 



238 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

Vistula. The brave and unfortunate Pole, when he 
sees you, imagines that he sees the legions of Sobieski 
returning from their memorable expedition." No one 
understood better than the Emperor how to impress 
the imagination of a people. At sight of him the 
inhabitants of Warsaw were thrilled with patriotic 
joy. It seemed to them that their grand nation was 
rising from the tomb. The Polish women, with their 
lively, poetic, ardent nature, regarded Napoleon as a 
sort of Messiah. In the intoxication of their ecstatic 
admiration, the most beautiful of them — and Poland 
is the country of beauty — turned towards him, like 
sirens, their most seductive smiles. This coquetry 
they regarded as a patriotic duty. Josephine had 
good grounds for jealousy. 

Napoleon was in the field during the last days 
of December. War at that time was particularly 
fatiguing. The dampness, worse than any cold, sad- 
dened the eyes and wearied the body. The tempera- 
ture was. forever changing between frost and thaw. 
Fighting took place in the most unfavorable condi- 
tions. But the Emperor, pitiless for himself and 
every one else, uttered no complaint. He wrote from 
Golimin to the Empress, December 29, at five in the 
morning: "I write but a word, from a wretched barn. 
I have beaten the Russians, captured thirty cannon, 
their baggage, and six thousand prisoners; but the 
weather is frightful ; it pours, and we are knee deep 
in mud." And from Pultusk, December 31: "I 
have laughed a good deal over your last two let- 



THE EMPRESS AT MAYENCE. 239 

ters. You have formed a very inaccurate notion 
of the beautiful Polish women. Two or three days 
I have had great pleasure in hearing Paer and two 
women who have given me some very good music. I 
received your letter in a wretched barn, with mud, 
wind, and straw for my only bed." In spite of what 
her husband said, Josephine was right about the 
charm of the Polish ladies, and Napoleon, on his 
return to Warsaw, January 2, 1807, was to become 
seriously interested in one of them. 

Soon there was no question of sending for the Em- 
press, who would only have been in the way. Napo- 
leon wrote to her, January 3 : " I have received your 
letter. Your regret touches me, but we must submit 
to events. It is too long a journey from Mayence to 
Warsaw ; we must wait till events permit my going 
to Berlin before I can write for you to come. Mean- 
while, the enemy is withdrawing, defeated, but I have 
a good many things to settle here. I should advise 
your returning to Paris, where you are needed. Send 
back those ladies Avho have anything to do there ; you 
will be better for getting rid of people who tire you. 
I am well ; the weather is bad. I love you much." 
The Emperor, utterly taken up by his love for the 
Polish lady, was anxious that Josephine, instead of 
coming to him, should at once return promptly to 
France. " My dear," he wrote to "her, January 7, "I 
am touched by all you say, but the cold season, the 
bad, unsafe roads prevent my giving my consent to 
your facing so many fatigues. Return to Paris for the 



240 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

winter. Go to the Tuileries, hold your receptions, 
and live as you do when I am there ; that is my wish. 
Perhaps I shall join you there without delay; but 
you must give up the plan of travelling three hun- 
dred leagues at this season, through hostile countries, 
in the rear of the army. Be sure that it is more 
painful to me than to you to postpone for a few 
weeks the pleasure of seeing you; but this is com- 
manded by events and the state of affairs. Good by, 
my dear, be happy and brave." The next day he 
wrote again on the same subject : " I have yours of 
the 27th, with those of Hortense and M. Napoleon en- 
closed. I have asked you to go back to Paris ; the 
season is too bad, the roads too insecure and detesta- 
ble, the distance too great for me to allow you to 
come so far to me when my affairs detain me. It 
would take you at least a month to get here. You 
would be sick when you got here, and then, perhaps, 
you would have to start back ; it would be madness. 
Your sojourn at Mayence is too dull. Paris calls for 
you ; go there ; that is my desire. I am more disap- 
pointed than you ; but we must bow to circum- 
stances." In a letter of January 11, he says : " I see 
very few people here." But he saw the Polish lady, 
and that was enough. 

Josephine, who suspected a rival, was in despair. 
Her husband wrote to console her, January 16 : "I 
have received yours of January 5. All that you say 
of your disappointment saddens me. Why these 
tears and lamentations? Have you not more courage? 



THE EMPRESS AT MAYENCE. 241 

I shall soon see you ; do not doubt my feelings, and if 
you wish to be still dearer to me, show character and 
strength of soul. I am humiliated to think that my 
wife can doubt my destinies. Good by, my dear, I 
love you and long to see you, and want to hear that 
you are contented and happy." In another letter, 
January 18, Napoleon tried to cheer up Josephine, 
who was even more anxious and uneasy : "I fear you 
are unhappy about our separation which must last 
some weeks yet, and about returning to Paris. I beg 
of you to have more courage. I hear that you are 
always crying. Fie, that is very bad ! Your letter 
of January 7 gives me much pain. Be worthy of me 
and show more character. Make a proper appearance 
at Paris, and above all, be contented. I am very well, 
and I love you much ; but if you are always in tears, 
I shall think you have no courage and no character. 
I do not love cowards ; an Empress ought to have 
some spirit." 

Napoleon's will was not to be altered. Josephine 
was forced to leave her daughter and to return to 
Paris. Her husband wrote to her from Warsaw : " I 
have your letter of January 15. It is impossible for 
me to let women undertake such a journey : bad roads, 
unsafe, and a slough of mud. Go back to Paris ; be 
happy and contented there ; perhaps I shall be there 
soon. I laugh at what you say, that you married to 
be with your husband. I had thought in my igno- 
rance that the wife was created for the husband, the 
husband for the country, the family, and glory. For- 



242 COUBT OF THE EMPBESS JOSEPHINE. 

give my ignorance. Good by, my dear, believe that 
I regret that I cannot have you come. Say to your- 
self, ' It is a proof how dear I am to him.' " All these 
fine words could not console Josephine, who knew 
from experience that Napoleon, like many unfaithful 
husbands, had a smooth tongue when he needed for- 
giveness. In vain she had waited four months at 
Mayence for permission to rejoin her husband. She 
at last found herself obliged to leave this town where 
she had no other pleasure than the sight of her 
daughter and her grandchildren, from whom she 
parted with pain. January 27 she was at Strassburg, 
and the 31st, at Paris. 



XXI. 

THE RETURN OF THE EMPRESS TO PARIS. 

THE Empress Josephine was much loved in 
France, and especially in Paris, where her gen- 
tleness, amiability, and great kindliness had won for 
her all sympathies, even those of people who were 
hostile to the Emperor. Her return to the capital 
was greeted with pleasure, and her presence awak- 
ened it from its previous gloom. The Moniteur thus 
describes her passage through the chief town of the 
department of the Lower Rhine. " Strassburg, Jan- 
uary 23, 1807. Her Majesty the Empress and Queen 
arrived within our walls yesterday, the 27th, on her 
way from Mayence to Paris. Her Majesty having 
consented to notify the Counsellor of State, Prefect 
Sh^e, that she would accept a modest entertainment, 
this news spread lively joy throughout this city. 
This proof of the Empress's kindness, accompanied 
by the gracious memory she wished to testify for the 
people of Strassburg, made the preparations for this 
impromptu event easy, and in spite of the brief time 
between the announcement and the arrival of Her 
Majesty, a numerous and brilliant company was soon 

243 



244 COURT OF THE EMPBESS JOSEPHINE. 

assembled at the Prefecture. The hall was elegantly 
decorated; the emblems and mottoes recalled the 
object of the festivity. After a square dance and a 
waltz, Her Majesty passed through the company, 
addressing a kind Avord to every lady present." The 
next day, January 28, at seven in the morning, the 
Empress started, amid cries of " Long live Joseph- 
ine ! " She reached the Tuileries January 31, at 
eight in the evening. The next day, at noon, guns 
were fired at the Invalides, to announce her return. 
The great bodies of the state solicited the honor of 
offering her their homages. She was a little tired by 
her journey, and was unable to receive them till 
February 5. 

At this reception she was the object of almost as 
much flattery as was the Emperor. We quote a few 
of the phrases : — 

M. Monge, President of the Senate : " Madame, the 
Senate lays at the feet of Your Imperial and Hoyal 
Majesty the tribute of its profound respect and the 
homage of the administration with which it is ani- 
mated for all your virtues. ... It congratulates 
itself on seeing again, in the capital, the august 
spouse to whom our adored ruler has given all his 
confidence and who deserves it in so many ways." 

M. de Fontanes, President of the Legislative Body : 
" Half of our wishes are granted. The presence of 
Your Majesty will make us attend less impatiently 
another return that the French desire with you. . . . 
Paris consoles itself for not seeing him who gives 



BETUBN OF THE EMPBESS TO PABIS. 245 

such glory to the tlirone, by finding in you she who 
has always lent to Sovereignty so much charm, so 
much gentleness and kindness." 

M. Fahre, President of the Tribunal: "Madame, 
your return has aroused the keenest joy. The mem- 
ory of that delicate kindness which knew how to 
temper so many woes; of that active beneficence 
which repaired so many misfortunes, is imprinted on 
every heart. Every one says : ' Providence in giving 
to us the hero, whose vast designs are crowned with 
the most constant and prompt success, desired to 
complete his kindness, by placing near him her to 
whom every stricken heart turns, who is the most 
agreeable object of gratitude, and who, moreover, 
throughout France is called the friend of misfortune.' '' 

M. Lejeas^ First Vicar- Greneral of the Chaiyter of 
Notre Dame (speaking in the place of the Cardinal 
Archbishop of Paris, who was ill) : " Madame, His 
Eminence the Archbishop, our worthy prelate, has 
commanded me to convey to Your Imperial and 
Royal Majesty his regrets at not being able himself 
to present to you the chapter and clergy of Paris. 
'Go,' that venerable old man said to me, 'and as- 
sure the benevolent Empress from me that I thor- 
oughly share the joy which every one feels at her 
return. Tell her that never a moment passes that I 
do not address to Heaven the most fervent prayers 
for the happiness of France and of our invincible 
Emperor, and for the success of his arms. The Lord 
has deigned to grant my prayers; in a very short 



246 COUET OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 



time astounding prodigies liave been wrought by 
Napoleon, and I offer my thanks.' The chapter and 
the clergy of Paris pray for Your Majesty to be sure 
that their feelings for your sacred person and for 
that of your august husband are like those of His 
Eminence." 

The Prefect of the Seine : '' You are far from the 
Emperor, Madame, but Paris, too, is far from him. 
Well, to mitigate this separation, equally painful for 
Paris and for Your Majesty, Paris and Your Majesty 
will talk to one another much about the Emperor. 
You will take pleasure in hearing that his subjects of 
the good city of Paris are ever faithful to him ; that 
they are prepared for every act of devotion which 
may be demanded by his glory, the honor of the Em- 
pire, and the resolution he has formed of not laying 
down his arms until he has assured the peace of 
nations. You will take pleasure in seeing us follow 
in thought, even to the most distant climes, his ever 
victorious eagles. In short, Madame, at every exploit 
of the Grand Army, you will be glad to hear the loud 
applause which we have often wished could reach you, 
even in the camps of the founder of the Empire, and 
then touched by the sincerity of our prayers, you Avill 
deign to listen to them, and sometimes even to be 
their interpreter." 

In spite of these official flatteries, and more or less 
interested compliments, the Empress was far from 
happy. Possibly she imagined that soon, even in her 
lifetime, the same homage would be addressed by the 



BETURN OF THE EMPBESS TO PABIS. 247 

same persons, in the same palace, to another woman. 
Besides this, however, she had many causes for dis- 
tress. She suffered from the absence of her chikben, 
from her daughter's domestic unhappiness, from the 
Emperor's remoteness, his infidelities in Poland, from 
the dangers threatening him in this relentless and dis- 
tant war. Slie wrote to her daughter February 3 : 
" I got here, dear Hortense, the evening of the 31st, 
as I expected. jMy journey was pleasant, if I can call 
it so when it separated me further from the Emperor. 
I have received five letters from him since my de- 
parture. I need to hear from you now that you are 
no longer with me to console me. Tell me how you 
are ; write to me about your husband and children. 
Although I see more people here than at Mayence, I 
am quite as lonely, and you will seem to be with me 
if you write. Good by, my dear, I love you ten- 
derly." Josephine yearned all the more eagerly for 
happiness as a mother, because as wife she suffered 
cruell}^ and the torments of jealousy were added to 
her grief at the Emperors absence. 

To one of the last letters his wife had written from 
Mayence Napoleon answered in an undated letter 
wliich she received in Paris : '' My dear, your let- 
ter of January 20, has pained me much; it is too 
sad. That is the result of excessive piety I You tell 
me that your happiness makes your glory. That is 
ungenerous ; you ought to say, the happiness of 
others makes my glory. It is not like a mother ; you 
ought to say, the happiness of my children is my 



248 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 



glory. It is not like a wife ; you ought to say, my 
husband's happiness makes my glory. Now, since 
the nation, your husband, your children cannot be 
happy without a little glory, you should not despise 
it. Josephine, you have a good heart, but a weak 
head ; your feelings are most admirable ; you reason 
less well. But that is enough squabbling; I want 
you to be merry, content with your lot, and to obey, 
not grumbling and crying, but cheerfully and happily. 
Good by, my dear. I'm off to-night, to inspect my 
outposts." It must be confessed that to be as merry 
as the Emperor demanded, Josephine would have 
needed a very exceptional character. Her husband 
was at the other end of Europe, never interrupting 
the intense emotions and great risks of a colossal 
struggle except for brief distractions, which, how- 
ever, could not be agreeable, so suspicious and jealous 
as she was. 

Constant, the Emperor's valet de chambre, has 
recounted in his Memoirs, the passion with which a 
beautiful Polish lady inspired his master, early in 
1807. Napoleon spent the whole month of January 
at Warsaw in a great palace. The Polish nobility 
gave him magnificent balls, and at one of them he 
noticed a young woman of twenty-two, Madame V., 
who had recently married an old nobleman, a most 
worthy man of stern principles and severe nature. 
By the side of her aged husband, this young woman, 
whose sadness and melancholy only added to her 
beauty, was like a victim in waiting for a consoler. 



IIETUBN OF THE EMPRESS TO PARIS. 249 

She was a charming person, with light hair, blue 
eyes, a brilliant complexion, a graceful figure, and 
dignified carriage. The Emperor went up to her, 
addressed her, and was soon delighted by her con- 
versation. He imagined that she was unhappily mar- 
ried and he at once conceived a wa-rni love for her, 
intenser and far more serious than any he had ever 
felt for one of his favorites. The next day he was 
noticeably restless. He would get up and walk 
about, then sit down only to get on his feet again. 
"I thought," Constant goes on, "that I should never 
get him dressed that day. Immediately after break- 
fast he despatched a great personage, whose name I 
shall not give, to pay a visit to Madame V., and carry 
his regards and entreaties. She proudly refused to 
listen to his propositions, possibly on account of their 
suddenness, or, it may be, by natural coquetry. The 
hero had pleased her ; the thought of having a lover 
resplendent with power and glory fascinated her, but 
she had no idea of yielding without a struggle. The 
grand personage returned in great surprise and com- 
passion at the failure of his negotiation." 

Constant says that he found his master the next 
morning very busy. The Emperor had written many 
letters the previous evening to the Polish lady, Avho 
had made no reply. His pride was wounded by a 
resistance to which he had not been accustomed since 
he had become great. At last, however, he had 
written so many, and such ardent and touching 
letters, that she consented to visit him one evening 



250 COUBT OF THE EMPBE8S JOSEPHINE. 

between ten and eleven. The grand personage who 
had tried to make the negotiations, was ordered to go 
to a remote spot and receive the lady in a carriage. 
Napoleon paced the room while awaiting her, betray- 
ing emotion and imjDatience. "At last Madame V. 
arrived," says Constant, whose master kept asking 
him what time it Avas. " She was in a most pitiable 
condition, pale, silent, her eyes full of tears. As 
soon as she appeared, I led her to the Emperor's room. 
She could scarcely stand and she was trembling as 
she leaned on my arm. Then I withdrew with the 
great personage Avho had brought her. During her 
interview with the Emperor, Madame V. wept and 
sobbed so that I could overhear her even at a great 
distance. At about two in the morning, the Emperor 
called me. I went to him and saw Madame V. going 
away, with her handkerchief at her eyes, weeping 
freely. The same personage carried her away. I 
thought she would never come back." But, contrary 
to his expectations, Madame V. came back two or 
three days later at about the same hour ; she seemed 
calmer, her eyes were less red, her face not so pale, 
and she continued her visits during the Emperor's 
stay. Evidently Josephine had good grounds for 
jealousy. 

Napoleon interrupted these distractions by going 
forth to fight the battle of Eylau, one of the bloodiest 
and most obstinate combats known to history. He 
described it in two letters to the Empress, written in 
the same day. This is the first : — 



RETURN OF THE EMPRESS TO PARIS. 251 

"Eylau, February 9, 1803, 3 a.m. My Deae: 
"We had a great battle yesterday. I was victorious, 
but our loss Avas heavy; that of the enemy, which 
was even greater, is no consolation for me. I write 
you these few lines myself, though I am very tired, 
to tell you that I am well and love you. Ever 
yours." 

This is the second : — 

" Eylau, February 9, 6 P.M. I write a word lest 
you should be anxious. The evening lost the battle ; 
forty cannon, ten flags, twelve thousand prisoners, 
suffering horribly. I lost sixteen hundred killed 
and three to four thousand wounded. Your cousin, 
Tascher, is unhurt. I have placed him on my staff 
as artillery officer. Corbineau was killed by a shell. 
I was exceedingly attached to him; he was an excel- 
lent officer, and I am deeply distressed. My Horse 
Guard covered itself with glory. D'AUemagne is 
dangerously wounded. Good by, my dear." 

The Emperor did not tell everything to Josephine ; 
he said nothing about the terrible vicissitudes of the 
battle, a victory scarcely to be distinguished from a 
defeat ; he kept silence about the cruel sufferings of 
his army which, without having eaten, had fought 
amid blinding snow beneath a leaden sky ; he said no 
word about the regiments destroyed, one in particu- 
lar, from colonel to drummers, all killed or wounded; 
he did not mention his own danger in the cemetery 
on the hill, where he had stood surrounded by his 
Guard, his last resource, anxiously watching the 



252 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

fight from its beginning, slashing the snow with his 
whip, and exclaiming at the approach of the Russian 
Grenadiers as they advanced towards him, " What 
audacity ! " He did not say that after the terrible 
and fruitless bloodshed, which both armies claimed 
as a victory, he had been obliged to withdraw, and 
that Bennigsen had taken possession of the hotly dis- 
puted battle-field. He did not say what he was about 
to say in his bulletins : " Imagine, on a space a league 
square, nine or ten thousand corpses ; four or five 
thousand dead horses; lines of Russian knapsacks; 
fragments of guns and sabres ; the earth covered with 
bullets, shells, supplies; twenty-four cannon sur- 
rounded by their artillery-men, slain just as they were 
trying to take their guns away ; and all that in plain- 
est relief on the stretch of snow." He did not quote 
the words he uttered in the biting frost, in face of 
thousands of dead and dying, when the gloomy day 
was sinking into a night of anguish: "This sight is 
one to fill rulers with a love of peace and a horror of 
war." No ; the Emperor did not tell her everything. 
In another letter, dated Eylau, February 11, 3 A.M., 
the Emperor tried to reassure the Empress : " I send 
you a line ; you must have been very anxious. I 
fought the enemy on a memorable day which cost 
me many brave men. The bad weather drove me 
into winter quarters. Do not distress yourself, I beg 
of you ; it will all be over soon, and my delight at 
seeing you once more will soon make me forget my 
fatigue. Besides, I have never been better. Little 



r 



RETURN OF THE E3IPRESS TO PARIS. 253 

Tasclier, of the fourth of the line, did well; and he 
had a hard experience. I have given him a place 
near me, in the artillery; so his troubles are over. 
The young man interests me. Good by, my dear ; a 
thousand kisses." 

From this moment the Emperor's letters to his wife 
became cold, short, dull, and utterly insignificant ; 
speaking of nothing but the rain, or the good weather, 
and jDerpetually bidding her to be cheerful. A clear- 
witted person ought to see readily that Napoleon, 
who was otherwise occupied, wrote to the Empress 
only from a sense of duty. Here are four letters ; the 
first from Landsberg, the other three from Liebstadt. 
February 18 : "I write a line. I am well. I am busy 
putting the army into winter quarters. It is raining 
and thawing like April. We have not yet had a cold 
day. Good by, my dear. Yours ever." February 
20 : "I write a line that you may not be anxious. 
My health is good, and everything is in good con- 
dition. I have put the army into winter quarters. 
It is a curious season, freezing and thawing, damp 
and changeable. Good by, my dear." February 21 : 
" I have yours of February 4, and am glad to hear 
that you are well. Paris will give you cheerfulness 
and rest ; the return to your usual habits will restore 
your health. I am wonderfully well. The weather 
and the country are wretched. Everything is in good 
condition ; it freezes and thaws every day ; it is a 
most singular winter. Good by, my dear. I think 
of you, and am anxious to hear that you are con- 



254 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

tented, cheerful, and happy. Ever yours." Feb- 
ruary 22 : "I have your letter of the 8th. I am glad 
to hear that you have been to the Opera, and that you 
mean to receive every week. Go to the theatre occa- 
sionally, and always sit in the grand box. I am 
pleased with the festivities given to you. I am very 
well. The weather continues unsettled, freezing and 
thawing. I have put the army into winter quarters 
to rest it. Don't be sad, and believe that I love you." 
Towards the end of February Napoleon had estab- 
lished his headquarters at Osterode, where he lived 
in a sort of barn, from which he governed his Empire 
and controlled Europe. He wrote to his brother 
Joseph, March 1, about the sufferings of this severe 
campaign in Poland. " The staff-officers have not 
taken off their clothes for two months, and some not 
for four. I have myself been a fortnight without 
taking off my boots. . . . We are deep in the snow 
and mud, without wine, brandy, or bread, living on 
meat and potatoes, making long marches and counter- 
marches, without any comforts, and generally fight- 
ing with the bayonets under grape-shot ; the wounded 
have to be carried in open sleighs for fifty leagues. 
. . . We are making war in all its excitement and 
horror." It is easy to see that Josephine, who knew 
all this, had good grounds for anxiet}^ Paris was 
empty and gloomy ; every face was sad. France is 
easily tired of everything, even of glory. The audi- 
tors of the Council of State, who were sent to Osterode 
to carry to the Emperor the reports of the different 



JIETURN OF THE EMPRESS TO PARIS. ^55 

ministers, returned to Paris in deep distress at the 
sights they had seen, and spread aharm in official 
circles. Napoleon consequently decided that those 
reports should be brought to him by staff-officers, who 
were more inured to scenes of distress. 

From headquarters at Osterode the Emperor sent 
eleven letters to the Empress between February 23 
and April 1, 1807, but he said nothing of importance 
in them. Thus : " Try to pass your time agreeably ; 
don't be anxious. I am in a wretched village where 
I shall be some time ; it's not so pleasant as a large 
city. I tell you again, I have never been so well ; 
you will ffiid me much stouter. ... I have ordered 
what you want for Malmaison; be happy and cheer- 
ful; that's what I desire. I am waiting for good 
weather, which must come soon. I love you, and 
want to hear that you are contented and cheerful. 
You will hear a good deal of nonsense about the 
battle of Eylau ; the bulletin tells everything ; its 
report of the losses is rather exaggerated than cut 
down." At the same time he somewhat reproved his 
wife : " I am sorry to hear that there is a renewal of 
the mischievous talk such as there was in your draw- 
ing-room at Mayence ; put a stop to it. I shall be 
much annoyed if you don't find some clue. You let 
yourself be distressed by the talk of people who 
ought to cheer you up. I recommend to you a little 
firmness, and to learn how to put everybody in his 
place. My dear, you must not go to the small 
theatres in private boxes ; it does not suit your rank ; 



256 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

you ought to go only to the four large theatres and 
always sit in the Imperial box. If you want to please 
me, you must live as you did when I was in Paris. 
Then you did not go to the small theatres or such 
places. You ought alwaj^s to go to the Imperial box. 
For your life at home, you must have regular recep- 
tions; that is the only way of winning my approval. 
Greatness has its inconveniences. An Empress can't 
go about everywhere like a commoner." 

The greatness Avhich the Emperor spoke about was 
no consolation to Josephine. She was unhappier 
beneath the gilded ceilings of the Tuileries than a 
peasant woman in a hovel. She besought her hus- 
band to let her join him in Poland, and wrote to him 
despairing letters. 

Napoleon answered from Osterode, March 27: 
" My dear, I am much pained by your letters. You 
must not die ; you are well and have no real 
cause of grief. I think 3'ou ought to go to Saint 
Cloud in May, but you ought to spend April in 
Paris. . . . You must not think of travelling this 
summer; all that is impossible. You couldn't be 
racing through inns and camps. I am as anxious as 
you can be to see you and be quiet. I understand 
other things than war ; but duty is before everything. 
All my life I have sacrificed everything — peace, in- 
terest, happiness — to my destiny." These phrases in 
no way consoled Josephine who knew very well that 
her husband, in spite of his assumption of Spartan 
austerity, occasionally indulged in distractions. 



BETURN OF THE EMPRESS TO PARIS. 2o7 



In the month of March something occurred which 
somewhat moderated the Empress's sufferings. Her 
daughter-in-law, the Vice-Queen of Italy, gave birth 
at Milan, on the 17th, to a daughter who was named 
Josephine Maximilienne Augusta. She it was who 
was to marry, in 1827, Oscar, Crown Prince and later 
King of vSweden. ''You will hear with pleasure," 
the Empress wrote Queen Hortense, " of the Princess 
Augusta's happy deliver}^ Eugene is delighted with 
his daughter ; his only complaint is that she sleeps 
too much, so that he can't see her as much as he 
would like." Josephine would gladly have gone to 
Milan to congratulate her son and to kiss her grand- 
daughter, but her grandeur kept her in Paris, where 
the prolongation of her husband's absence and the 
torments of too well justified jealousy plunged her 
into the deepest gloom. 

Napoleon became tired of the monotonous and ex- 
cessively disagreeable stay at Osterode, where he 
could not receive the Polish lady to whom he became 
continually more and inore attached. Early in April 
he installed himself at Finkenstein, in a jDretty castle 
belonging to a Prussian crown official, and there he 
was very comfortably quartered with his staff and 
military household. It was from thence that he 
wrote, April 2, the following short letter to Josephine : 
" My dear, I send you a line. I have just moved my 
headquarters to a very pretty castle, like that of 
Bessieres, where I have a number of open fireplaces, 
which is very pleasant for me, as I get up often in the 



258 count OF the empress Josephine. 



night ; I like to see the fire. My health is perfect ; 
the weather is fine, but still cold. The thermometer 
is but a few degrees from freezing. Good by, my 
dear. Ever yours." As soon as Napoleon was settled 
in this castle his first thought was to send for the 
Polish lady, for whom he had fitted up an apartment 
near his own. She left at Warsaw her old husband, 
who never consented to see her again, and spent three 
weeks with the Emperor. " They took all their meals 
together," says Constant. "I was the only one in 
attendance, so I was able to overhear their talk which 
was always amiable, lively, and eager on the part of 
the Emperor, always tender, affectionate and melan- 
choly on the part of Madame Y. When His Majesty 
was away Madame V. spent all her time in reading 
or looking through the blinds of the Emperor's room 
at the parades and drills going on in the courtyard of 
the castle, which he often directed in person." Con- 
stant, who felt bound to admire his master's choice, 
adds with some feeling : " The Emperor appeared to 
appreciate perfectly the interesting qualities of this 
angelic woman, whose gentle, unselfish character left 
on me an impression that can never fade. . . . Her 
life, like her nature, was calm and uniform. Her 
character fascinated the Emperor and bound him down 
to her." This loving idyl, a sort of interlude in the 
tragedy of war, may have suited Constant's taste, but 
it was hardly of a nature to please Josephine, who, 
like most jealous people, knew almost always what 
she wanted to know, and from the Tuileries found 



HETUBN Oi" THE EMPBESS TO FAB IS. 259 

means to watch what was gomg on in this distant 
castle. 

Napoleon's letters to Josephine during the reign of 
Madame Y. were shorter and more stupid than usual. 
They were merely a few lines on the weather, the 
Emperor's health, or his desire to hear that his wife 
was " cheerful and happy." But, alas I cheerfulness 
and happiness were not for her ! Too astute to be 
hoodwinked, she understood that her husband still 
had a friendly feeling for her but that his love was 
dead. In the eyes of a jealous woman, friendship is 
a slight thing. What does she care for the esteem 
and attentions of a friend who was once her lover ? 
To all the good services of friendship she would a 
thousand times prefer the anger, fury, violence, of 
love. 



XXIL 

THE DEATH OF THE YOUNG NAPOLEOK. 

QUEEN HORTENSE was no happier in her Hol- 
land palaces than was the Empress in the Tuil- 
eries. She had to endure all the grief, deception, and 
misery of an ill-assorted marriage. The incompatibil- 
ity of disposition which existed between her husband 
and herself from the first days of their married life, 
made itself continually more felt. King Louis blamed 
his wife not merely for her faults, but also for her 
good qualities. He was sometimes annoyed because 
she was gracious, amiable, charming ; and the general 
sympathy she aroused in Holland, as in France, 
excited the fears of this irritable and sullen husband. 
Hortense looked upon herself as a victim. She had 
a lively imagination, and exaggerated her grief to 
herself, suffering more keenly on account of her 
excitement, which was often very great. One day 
she said to Madame de Remusat, her intimate and 
admiring friend, that her life was so painful and 
apparently so hopeless that when she was at one of 
her villas near the sea, and looked out on the ocean 
where were the English fleets blockading her ports, 
260 



DEATH OF THE YOUNG NAPOLEON. 261 

she wished that chance might bring a ship to where 
she was, and she might be carried off a prisoner. 

The conjugal infelicities of Louis and his wife 
attracted the attention of the Emperor, who kept as 
strict a guard over his family as over his Empire, and 
was as prompt to exercise control in private, as in 
political matters. He wanted his brother to obey 
him, both as King and husband, and in his discontent 
at seeing his orders disobeyed, he wrote to him, from 
the depths of Poland, April 4, 1807, this reproachful 
letter, which is a real reprimand: "Your quarrels 
with the Queen have become public. Show, then, in 
private life some of that paternal and effeminate 
character which you display in matters of govern- 
ment, and in business the same rigor you exercise in 
your household. You treat a young woman as we 
treat a regiment. . . . You have an excellent and 
most virtuous wife and you make her unhappy. Let 
her dance as much as she pleases ; she is young. My 
wife is forty ; I wrote to her from the battle-field to 
go to a ball. And you want a young Avoman of 
twenty, who sees her life flitting, and has every illu- 
sion, to live in a cloister, or to be always washing 
her baby like a nurse. You are too much ^oit in 
your household, and not enough in your administra- 
tion. I should not say all this to you except for 
the interest I have for you. Make the mother of 
your children happy ; you have one way to do this : 
that is, by showing her esteem and confidence. 
Unfortunately your wife is too virtuous ; if you 



/ 



262 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

had married a coquette slie would lead you by the 
end of your nose. But you have a proud wife who is 
afflicted and distressed by the mere thought that you 
may have a bad opinion of her. You ought to have 
married any one of a number of women whom I know 
in Paris ; she would have had no difficulty in getting 
ahead of you and would have kept you at her feet. 
It is not my fault, I have often told your wife so." 
Thus the Emperor, by taking part in behalf of his 
daughter-in-law and against his brother, took a posi- 
tion as arbiter in their domestic quarrels. This inter- 
ference was all the more galling to Louis, — who 
would have liked to be master in both his own king- 
dom and in his own house, — that calumny, as he well 
knew, persisted in representing the Emperor as his 
rival in Hortense's love, and as the father of the 
Crown Prince. 

This child was named Napoleon Charles. He was 
born in Paris, October 10, 1802. His grandmother, 
Josephine, nourished the hope that some day he might 
be heir to the Empire, and she regarded his birth as 
a pledge of final reconciliation between the Bona- 
partes and the Beauharnaises. She believed that his 
cradle saved her from divorce. The Emperor, who 
always liked children, was especially fond of his 
nephew. He watched his growth with the keenest 
interest, admiring his amiability, his precocity, his 
excellent disposition. The boy was really remarka- 
ble for intelligence and beauty. His large blue eyes 
reflected every mood of his mind. Good, loving, 



DEATH OF THE YOUNG NAPOLEON. 263 

frank, and merry, he needed only to appear and all 
sadness was banished. His mother had brousfht him 
up to revere the Emperor. His father, the King, 
gave him new toys every day, choosing those he 
thought most attractive. The boy preferred those 
he received from his uncle, and when his father said, 
" But just see. Napoleon, those are ugly ; mine are 
prettier." " No," said the young Prince, " those are 
very pretty, my uncle gave them to me." One morn- 
ing on his way to see the Emperor, he passed through 
a drawing-room where happened to be among others, 
Murat, then Grand Duke of Berg. The young Napo- 
leon walked straight ahead without paying attention 
to any one, and when Murat stopped him and said, 
" Don't you mean to say good-morning to me ? " the 
child replied, " No ; not before my uncle the Em- 
peror." Who knows ? if this little Prince had lived 
the Emperor might have desired no other heir, and 
perhaps the divorce would never have taken place. 

This boy was his mother's hope and pride, her joy 
and consolation. His father, too, loved him much. 
He was a light in the darkness, a rainbow after 
the storm. Sometimes when his parents were quar- 
relling he succeeded in reconciling them. He used 
to take his father by the hand, who gladly let himself 
be led by this little angel, and then he would say in 
a caressing tone : " Kiss her, papa, I beg of you " ; 
then he was perfectly happy when his father and 
mother exchanged a kiss of peace. 

The little Prince had a sudden attack of croup in 



264 COUET OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

the night of May 4, 1807. He was thought to be 
lost, but in the morning he was a little better, and 
the physicians had some hope of saving him. The 
improvement lasted but a few minutes. In the 
course of the day he was given some English pow- 
ders, which lent him a feverish strength, so that at 
six in the evening he asked for some cards and 
pictures to play with, but the fever only gave way 
to his death agony. Towards ten in the evening the 
child drew his last breath. 

No words can describe thv . unhappy Queen's de- 
spair ; she became stony with grief, and fears were 
felt for her reason. Josephine's grief was boundless. 
She did not dare to leave the Empire without the 
Emperor's authorization, and so did not go to The 
Hague, but went in all haste to the Castle of Laeken, 
near Brussels, whence she wrote to Hortense in the 
evening of May 14 : "I have just reached the Castle 
of Laeken, my dear daughter, and await you here. 
Come and give me life ; your presence is necessary 
for me, and you must have need of seeing me and of 
weeping with your mother. I should have liked to 
go further, but I was too weak, and besides I had not 
time to send word to the Emperor. I have summoned 
courage to come thus far ; I hope that you will have 
enough to come to your mother. Good by, my dear 
daughter. I am worn out with fatigue and especially 
with grief." In the evening of May 15, Hortense ar- 
rived at the Castle of Laeken, accompanied by her hus- 
band and her sole surviving son. She was motionless, 



DEATH OF THE YOUNG NAPOLEON, 265 

apathetic, the figure of despair. M. de R^musat, who 
was with the Empress, wrote the next day to his wife : 
" The Queen has but one thought, the loss she has suf- 
fered ; she speaks of only one thing, of him. Not a 
tear, but a cold calm, an almost absolute silence about 
everything, and when she speaks she wrings every 
one's heart. If she sees any one whom she has ever 
seen with her son, she looks at him with kindliness 
and interest, and says, ' You know he is dead.' 
When she first saw her mother, she said to her: 
'It's not long since he was here with me. I held 
him on ni}^ knees thus.' Seeing me a few minutes 
later, she made a sign for me to come forward. ' Do 
you remember Mayence ? He acted with us.' She 
heard ten o'clock strike ; she turned to one of the 
ladies and said, ' You know it was at ten that he 
died.' That is the only way she breaks her almost 
continual silence. With all that, she is kind, sensi- 
ble, perfectly reasonable ; she thoroughly understands 
her condition, and even speaks of it. She says she 
is glad that she has fallen into this numb state, 
otherwise her sufferings would have been too intense. 
Some one asked her if she was much moved when 
she saw her mother : ' No,' she answered ; ' but I am 
very glad to have seen her.' Mention was made of 
Josephine's surprise at her lack of emotion on seeing 
her ; ' Oh, Heavens ! ' she said, ' she must not mind 
it ; that's the way I am.' To anj^thing that is asked 
her on any other subject, ehe says, ' It's all the same 
to me ; do as you please.' " 



266 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

A messenger had been sent to carry the news to 
the Emperor, who was much affected by hearmg it. 
He wrote to Josephme, May 14 : "I can well imagine 
the grief which Napoleon's death must cause. You 
can understand what I suffer. I should like to be 
with you, that you might be moderate and discreet in 
your grief. You were happy enough never to lose a 
child, but that is one of the conditions and penalties 
attached to our human misery. Let me hear that 
you are calm and well ! Do you want to add to my 
regret? Good by, my dear." 

May 17 an imposing ceremony took place in Paris 
— the carrying of the sword of Frederick the Great to 
the Tuileries. A triumj)hal chariot, richly decorated, 
carried the one hundred and eighty flags captured in 
the last campaign. Marshal Moncey, on horseback, 
held the hero's sword. The chariot proceeded to the 
iron gate of the Invalides, which it was too lofty to 
pass under. Then the veterans came to take the flags 
and to carry them into the church. The ceremony 
began with a song of triumph. Marshal S^rurier, 
Governor of the Invalides, spoke : " We are here," he 
said, " to the number of more than nine hundred of 
those who fought against the great king whose war- 
like spoils our children have just won. At that time 
fortune did not always smile upon our valor. The 
fathers were no less brave than their sons, but they 
had not the same leader. Yet we can only recall with 
pride the words of that great man : ' If I were at the 
head of the French people, not a cannon would be 



DEATH OF THE YOUNG NAPOLEON. 267 

fired in Europe without my permission ' — honorable 
proof of his esteem for the soldiers who were fighting 
him. But it was in the reign of a sovereign even 
greater by his genius, his feats, his moderation, that 
the French people was to rise to such a height of 
power and glory. We swear faithfully to guard the 
treasure which his Imperial and Eoyal Majesty has 
entrusted to us." Then the old church echoed with 
cries of " We swear it ! " 

At this ceremony, the eloquent President of the 
Legislative Body, M. de Fontanes, made a fine speech 
full of enthusiasm for Napoleon, but respectful to the 
memory of the great Frederick and to the misfortunes 
of his successor. He closed with a few words on the 
grief that the death of the Crown Prince must have 
caused the Emperor : " Perhaps, at this moment," he 
said, " the hero who has saved us is weeping in his 
tent at the head of three hundred thousand victorious 
French, and of all the confederate kings and princes 
who march under his banner. He weeps, and neither 
the trophies heaped about him, nor the glory of the 
twenty sceptres he holds so firmly, which even Charle- 
magne failed to grasp, cannot distract his thoughts 
from the cofiin of that boy, whose first steps he aided 
with his triumphant hands, whose promising intelli- 
gence he hoped one day to guide. Let him not for- 
get that his domestic woes have been felt like a 
public calamity, and may a tender expression of the 
national interest bring him some slight consolation. 
All our alarm for the future is a more ardent expres- 



268 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

sion of our homage. May fortune be satisfied with 
this one victim, and while she always favors the plans 
of the greatest of monarchs, may she not make him 
pay for his glory by similar misfortunes ! " 

Doubtless the death of this young child altered 
the face of things. If he had lived, it would have 
been for him, and not his brother, to bear the name 
of Napoleon III., or possibly even of Napoleon II., 
and apparently the destiny of the world would have 
been very different. Kingdoms and empires, on what 
does their fate depend ! May 5 was to be a fatal 
date ; the young Prince died May 5, 1807, and four- 
teen years later to a day his uncle was to die on the 
rock of Saint Helena. 



XXIII. 

THE END OF THE WAE. 

THE Empress brought her daughter Hortense 
and her grandson Napoleon Louis, a boy a little 
over two, back to Paris with her, but she had not 
long the consolation of their 23resence ; before the end 
of May Hortense was obliged to leave for Cauterets 
to repair her shattered health. Her mother wrote to 
her from Saint Cloud, May 27 : "I have wept much 
since your departure ; this separation is very painful 
for me, and the only thing that could enable me to 
bear it would be the certainty that you are getting 
some good from your trip. I have heard of you from 
Madame de Broc. I beg of you to thank her for this 
attention and to ask her to write to me when you are 
unable. I heard news, too, of your son; he is at 
Laeken, very well, and awaits the King's arrival. 
The Emperor has written to me again ; he shares our 
sorrow. I needed this consolation, the only one I 
have received since your departure. I am always 
alone, every moment recalls our loss, my tears never 
cease flowing. Good by, my dear daughter, take care 
of yourself for your mother's sake, who loves you 
most tenderly." 

269 



270 COURT O'F THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE, 

Napoleon, wlio forbade liis wife and daughter-in- 
law to be gloomy, — an order more easily given than 
obeyed, — thought their mourning excessive. His 
expressions of sympathy were very singular. He 
wrote from Finkenstein to Queen Hortense, May 
20, 1807 : — 

" My Daughter : Everything I hear from The 
Hague tells me you are not reasonable. However legit- 
imate your grief, it should have some bounds. Do not 
ruin your health ; seek some distractions, and remem- 
ber that life is so full of dangers and evils that death 
is not the worst thing that can befall one." In his 
letter of May 24 to the Empress, the Emperor spoke 
of the unhappy Queen with a severity that amounted 
to brutality: "Hortense is unreasonable and does not 
deserve to be loved since she does not love any one 
but her children. Try to calm her and do not make 
trouble for me. For every hopeless evil, consolation 
must be found." He wrote to her again. May 26: 
"I have your letter of the 16th. I am glad Hortense 
has gone to Laeken. I am sorry to hear what you 
say about the sort of stupor she is in. She might 
show courage and self-control. I can't understand 
why she should be sent to the baths ; she could find 
more distractions in Paris. Control yourself; be 
cheerful, and keep well. My health is excellent. 
Good by. I share your sufferings, and am sorry not 
to be with you." 

In her bitter grief Hortense lacked courage to 
write to the Emperor, Avho was annoyed by her 



Tlt:ei END OF THE WAB. 27l 

silence. " My clear," he wrote to Josephine, June 2, 
" I hear that you have arrived at Malmaison. I have 
no letters from you. I am vexed with Hortense ; she 
has not written me a word. All you tell me about 
her distresses me. Why could you not distract her a 
little ? You are always in tears ! I hope you will 
show some self-control, that I may not find you sad. 
I have been for two days at Dantzic ; the weather is 
fine ; I am well. I think of you more than you think 
of an absent man. Good by ; much love. Forward 
to Hortense this letter." This is the severe epistle 
which Josephine was bidden to send to Hortense : — 

" June 2. My Daughter : You have not written 
me a word in your great and natural grief. You have 
forgotten everything, as if you had not still losses to 
endure. I hear that you love nothing, are indifferent 
to everything ; this is plain from your silence. That 
is not right, Hortense. It is not what you promised 
us. Your son was everything for you? Are your 
mother and I nothing ? Had I been at Malmaison I 
should have shared your sorrow, but I should have 
wanted you to listen to your best friends. Good by, 
my daughter ; be cheerful ; you must be resigned. 
My wife is much distressed at your condition ; do not 
give her further pain. Your affectionate father." 

It is easily seen that such letters were ill adapted to 
allay the anguish of an inconsolable mother mourning 
for her child. 

Josephine's letters to her daughter showed very 
different feelings. The kind Empress did her best 



272 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

to persuade her that the Emperor sympathized with 
her grief. She wrote from Saint Cloud, June 4 : " Your 
letter, my dear Hortense, gives me much consolation, 
and what I hear from your ladies about your health 
makes me easier. The Emperor was much distressed ; 
in every letter he tries to give me courage, but I know 
that this unhappy event was a great blow to him. 
The King arrived at Saint Leu last evening ; he has 
sent me word that he meant to call on me to-day, 
and he must leave the boy here during his absence. 
You know how much I love the child, and how care- 
ful I shall be of him. I want the King to take the 
same route as you ; it will be a consolation for you 
both to meet. All his letters since you left are full 
of love for you. He has too tender a heart not to be 
touched. Good by, my dear daughter ; take care of 
your health; mine will improve only when I don't 
have to suffer for those I love." This letter shows 
all the kindness and gentleness of Josephine's char- 
acter. She was conciliating and benevolent, and did 
her best to smooth over Napoleon's blame and to rec- 
oncile Hortense Avith her husband. She wrote again 
from Saint Cloud, June 11 : " Your boy is very well, 
and amuses me a great deal ; he is so gentle ; I think 
he has all the ways of the poor boy we mourn." 
Josephine understood consolation better than the 
Emperor. 

What could be more touching, more maternal, than 
this letter from the Empress ? " Your letter moved 
me deeply ; I see your grief is ever fresh and I per- 



THE END OF THE ]VAB. 273 

ceive this better by my own sufferings. We have 
lost what was most worthy to be loved; my tears 
flow as they did the first day. Those regrets are too 
natural to be repressed by reason, although it should 
moderate them. You are not alone in the world. 
You have left a husband, an interesting child, and 
you are too tender for that to be strange and indiffer- 
ent to you. Think of us, my dear daughter, and let 
this calm your natural sorrow. I rely on your love 
for me and on your reasonableness. I hope that the 
trip and the waters will do you good. Your son is 
very well, and is charming. My health is a little 
better, but you know it depends on yours. Good 
by. Many kisses." 

The character of this loving mother and grand- 
mother manifests itself in every one of her letters. 
Her. style was simple and affectionate, like herself. 
Her letters, full of the gentlest, best, and most touch- 
ing feeling, might make one say, " The style is the 
woman." 

While Josephine and Hortense were weeping, Na- 
poleon was bringing a terrible campaign to a brilliant 
end. June 15 he thus announced to his wife the 
great victory of Friedland : " My dear : I write but 
a word, for I am very tired ; I have been bivouacking 
for several days. My children have been worthily 
celebrating the battle of Marengo. The battle of 
Friedland will be quite as famous and glorious for 
my people. The whole Russian army routed ; eighty 
cannon; thirty thousand men captured or killed; 



274 COURT OF THE FMPBESS JOSEPHINE. 

twenty-five Russian generals killed, wounded, or cap- 
tured ; the Russian Guard wiped out ; it is a worthy 
sister of Marengo, Austerlitz, Jena. The bulletin 
will tell you the rest. My losses are not serious; I 
succeeded in outmanoeuvring the enemy. Be calm 
and contented. Good by, my dear, my horse is wait- 
ing." The next day he wrote another letter to Jo- 
sephine : " My dear, yesterday I sent Moustache to 
you with news of the battle of Friedland. Since then 
I have continued to pursue the enemy. Konigsberg, 
a city of eighty thousand inhabitants, is in my power. 
I have found there many cannon, stores, and finally 
sixty thousand muskets just come from England. 
Good by, my dear, my health is perfect, although I 
have a cold from the rain and cold of the bivouac. 
Be cheerful and contented. Ever yours." From 
Tilsitt Napoleon wrote to his wife, June 19: "I have 
sent Tascher to you to allay your anxiety. Every- 
thing goes on admirably here. The battle of Fried- 
land decided everything. The enemy is confounded, 
cast down, and extremely enfeebled. My health is 
excellent, my army superb. Good by; be cheerful 
and contented." Be cheerful and contented — he 
was always saying it. 

June 25, at one in the afternoon, a great sight was 
to be seen in the middle of the Niemen. A raft had 
been placed midstream in plain view from both banks 
of the river. All the rich stuffs that could be found 
in the little town of Tilsitt had been taken to make 
a pavilion on a part of this raft for the reception of 



THE END OF THE WAH. 275 

the Emperors of France and Russia. From one 
bank Napoleon embarked with Murat, Berthier, Bes- 
sieres, Duroc, and Caulaincourt ; and from the other, 
Alexander, with the Grand Duke Constantine, Gen- 
erals Bennigsen and Ouvaroff, the Prince of Labanoff, 
and the Count of Lieven. The two armies were 
drawn up on the two banks, and the country people 
of the neighborhood were present to watch one of 
the most memorable interviews known to history. 
When they reached the raft, the two sovereigns, who 
had just been fighting so bitterly, and had sent so 
many thousand men to death, fell into each other's 
arms with emotion. The same day Napoleon wrote 
to Josephine : '' I have just seen the Emperor Alex- 
ander, and am much pleased with him ; he is a very 
fine-looking, good young Emperor ; he has more in- 
telligence than is generally supposed. He is going 
to move into Tilsitt to-morrow. Good by ; keep well 
and be contented. My health is excellent." The 
two monarchs became very intimate. "My dear," 
Napoleon wrote to his wife July 3, " M. de Turenne 
will give you all the details about what is going on 
here ; everything is moving smoothly. I think I told 
you that the Emperor of Russia drank to your health 
with great kindness. He and the King of Prussia 
dine with me every day. I want you to be contented. 
Good by ; much love." And July 6 : "I have yours 
of June 25. I am sorry you are so egoistic, and that 
my success gives you no pleasure. The beautiful 
Queen of Prussia is to dine mth me to-day. I am 



276 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

well and anxious to see you again when fate permits. 
Still it will probably be soon." 

The Queen of Prussia was one of the most beauti- 
ful and most brilliant women of her time. An hour 
after her arrival at Tilsitt, Napoleon called on her, 
and that evening, when she came to dine with him, 
he went to the door of the house in which he lived to 
receive her with all respect. But in spite of all her 
efforts to modify the conditions of the peace imposed 
on Prussia, her gracious and obstinate endeavors were 
fruitless. Napoleon, July 7, thus described to Joseph- 
ine the dinner of the evening before to the charm- 
ing Queen : " My dear, the Queen of Prussia dined 
with me yesterday. I was obliged to refuse her some 
concessions she wanted me to make to her husband ; 
but I was polite, and also kept to my plan. She is 
very amiable. When I see you I will give you all 
the details which would be too long to write now. 
When you read this letter, peace will have been con- 
cluded with Russia and Prussia, and Jerome will have 
been recognized as King of Westphalia with a popu- 
lation of three millions. This piece of news is for 
you alone. Good by, my dear ; I want to hear that 
you are contented and cheerful." The story runs 
that the Queen of Prussia, who held a beautiful rose 
in her hand, offered it to Napoleon, saying with a 
gracious smile : " Take it. Sire, but in exchange for 
Magdeburg." The hero of Jena made a mistake 
"not to make the exchange. He did too much or too 
little for the Prussian monarchy. Since he could 



THE END OF THE WAR. 277 



not or would not wipe it out, he ought to have let it 
live, and become a friendly power. Who can tell ? 
Perhaps his acceptance of the rose would have warded 
off many acts of vengeance, many disasters. On such 
slight things does the world's destiny depend ! 

Josephine wrote to her daughter from Saint Cloud, 
July 10 : "I often hear from the Emperor, who speaks 
a great deal about the Emperor Alexander, with whom 
he seems well satisfied. He sent M. de Monaco and 
M. de Montesquiou to give me details of all they 
had seen. They say the first view was a magnificent 
sight. The two armies were on the two banks of the 
Niemen. The Emperor was the first to arrive at a 
raft built in the middle of the river; the Emperor 
Alexander's boat found some difficulty in approaching, 
which gave him a chance to speak of his eagerness 
thwarted by the stream. They tell me that when the 
two Emperors kissed, wide-spread applause arose from 
both banks. What most interests me in all this good 
news is my hope of soon seeing the Emperor again. 
Why is this happiness troubled by sad memories that 
can never be destroyed ? Your boy is perfectly well ; 
his complexion has entirely changed. I hope the 
waters will do both you and the King good ; remem- 
ber me to him, and believe in my constant love." 

Before leaving Tilsitt, where he had signed a glo- 
rious peace. Napoleon had the bravest soldier of the 
Russian Guard presented to him, and he gave him 
the eagle of the Legion of Honor. He gave his por- 
trait to Platou, the hetman of the Cossacks, and some 



278 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

Baschirs gave him a concert after the custom of their 
country. July 9, at eleven in the morning, wearing 
the grand cordon of Saint Andrew, he called on the 
Emperor Alexander, who wore the broad ribbon of the 
Legion of Honor. The two sovereigns passed three 
hours together, then mounted their horses, and rode 
towards the Niemen. Then they got down and em- 
braced for the last time. The Czar then embarked, 
and Napoleon waited on the river-bank until his new 
friend had landed on the other shore. He returned 
to Konigsberg and from there to Dresden, whence he 
wrote to Josephine, July 18 : " My dear, I reached 
here yesterday afternoon at five, very well, though I 
had been posting one hundred hours without stopping. 
I am staying with the King of Saxony, whom I like 
very much. I have more than half my journey to 
you behind me. I warn you that I may burst in on 
you at Saint Cloud one of these nights, like a jealous 
husband. Good by, my dear ; I shall be very glad to 
see you again. Ever yours." Napoleon spoke of 
jealousy. The days of the first Italian campaign 
were very distant. Everything had changed. It was 
no longer he who had to be jealous of Josephine : it 
was Josephine who was jealous of him, and with good 
reason. After an absence of nearly a year, the 
Emperor reached Saint Cloud, July 27, 1807, at six 
o'clock in the morning. 



XXIV. 

THE EMPEEOR's RETURN. 

JULY 28, 1807, the Emperor, who had arrived at 
Saint Cloud the day before, received the great 
bodies of the State. It would be hard to form an 
exact idea of the flatteries addressed to him. Let us 
quote a few taken at random. M. Seguier, First 
President of the Court of Appeal, said to the hero 
of Friedland : '' Napoleon is above admiration ; only 
love can rise to him." The Cardinal Archbishop of 
Paris, speaking in the name of his clergy, was perhaps 
even more enthusiastic : " The God of armies," he 
said, " has dictated and directed all your plans ; noth- 
ing could resist the swiftness of so many wonders. . . . 
Have confidence. Sire, in our zeal, and instruct the 
people in the submission and obedience they owe to 
all of Your Majesty's decrees and orders." But it 
was Councillor of State Trochot, Prefect of the Seine, 
who deserves the prize in this competition of adula- 
tion. Here is a fragment of his speech : " Sire, now 
that at last Paris receives you once more after so long 
an absence and such prodigious feats, it would gladly 
express to you all its intense admiration, and yet it 

279 



280 GOUBT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

can only speak to you of its love. And, indeed, if it 
tried to contemplate in you the conqueror of so many 
kings, the law-maker of so many peoples, the con- 
troller of so many events, the arbiter of so many des- 
tinies, how could it dare to approach Your Majesty, 
and in what language could it address you ? Should 
it speak to you of triumphs ? But can any one but a 
Csesar himself speak of what Caesar has done ? Of 
glory? but for ten years ft has been impossible to 
speak of all you have won. Of genius? but who can 
speak of all the marvels yours ha^ wTought, before 
which we are dumb and confounded. Sire, all these 
things are beyond us, and since they command admi- 
ration, even silence, the silence of astonishment which 
admiration imposes seems to be our sole manner of 
expressing it." More had not been said to Louis 
XIV., the Sun King. 

In allusion to the illuminations in Paris the even- 
ing before, the Prefect of the Seine added: "Why 
could not you. Sire, have been an eye-witness of the 
joy which the announcement of Your Majesty's re- 
turn spread yesterday throughout the capital of your 
Empire ! Why could not you have heard the 
applause with which your faithful subjects rent the 
welkin during the festivity which they gave on this 
occasion until well into the night ! " The Prefect 
closed by a prophecy, alas ! not too accurate : " The 
august Emperor Napoleon will render war between 
nations impossible, and the world's happiness will 
date from his reign.'' . 



THE EMPEROR'S RETURN. 281 

The hero of Austerlitz, of Jena, of Friedland, then 
thought nothmg impossible. His direct or indirect 
sway extended from the Straits of Gibraltar to the 
Vistula, from the mountains of Bohemia to the 
North Sea. Charlemagne was outstripped. Joseph- 
ine saw her husband again with joy, but also with 
anxiety and terror. He returned so infatuated by 
his wonderful fortune, he was so flattered and deified 
by his courtiers, in his whole Imperial and royal per- 
son there Avas something so formidable and majestic, 
that his gentle and timid wife Avas, as it were, dazzled 
by the rays of a sun, too brilliant for her to look at. 

Josephine had now become afraid to address him as 
thou, and to call him simply Bonaparte as she had 
done before. When she spoke to him, she often 
called him Sire. She did not dare to reproach him 
with his infidelities at Warsaw or the Castle of 
Finkenstein, or to show that she noticed his atten- 
tions to many ladies of the court, notably to a beau- 
tiful Italian woman, a friend of Talleyrand's, who was 
one of her readers and a prominent object of Napo- 
leon's attentions. She saw rising before her the 
vision of divorce, the phantom which had haunted 
her imagination since the expedition to Egypt. Fear- 
ful of giving her husband the slightest pretext for 
discontent or annoyance, she was humbler, more sub- 
missive, more obedient than ever. 

So long as the oldest son of Louis and Hortense 
had lived, Josephine felt comparatively secure, be- 
cause she knew that this boy, a special favorite of 



282 COUBT OF THE EMPBESS JOSEPHINE. 

Napoleon's, was intended by his uncle to be the heir 
of his Empire. But his surviving brother, the little 
Napoleon Louis, born October 11, 1804, did not give 
the Empress the same confidence. The Emperor was 
less intimate with this child ; he had not played with 
him as he had done with the other; he had not 
become attached to him. The little Napoleon Louis 
was staying with Josephine when the Emperor re- 
turned. She did all she could to make him love him. 

Moreover, it was not an easy thing to hold the 
affections of a man like Napoleon . Six years younger 
than his wife, he was but thirty-eight, and in all the 
flower and prime of his Csesar-like beauty. He liked 
to make a conquest of beauties as well as of prov- 
inces. The thought of resistance exasperated him. 
In everything he demanded success, triumph, domin- 
ion. The celebration of his birthday, August 15, 
1807, which was accompanied with unusual pomp and 
splendor, was of the nature of a deification. He 
made Josephine share his triumph, and held her by 
the hand when he appeared on a balcony of the 
Tuileries, in the enclosure, amid the applause of the 
multitude assembled in the gardens. 

King Jerome's marriage with the young Princess 
Catherine of Wiirtemberg added to the animation of 
the already brilliant court. The annulment of the 
young Prince's marriage with Miss Paterson had 
caused Napoleon much difficulty. When this mar- 
riage had been contracted at Baltimore, December 8, 
1803, he had been only First Consul, and Jerome, a 



THE EMPEBOR'S RETURN. 283 

simple naval officer, was in no way under the control 
of the decree of the Senate, Avhich was later to de- 
termine the civil conditions of the new Imperial 
family. But in his haste to marry the young and 
beautiful American girl, Jerome, who was but nine- 
teen years old, had neglected, in spite of the advice of 
the French Consul, to demand the permission of his 
mother, Madame Letitia Bonaparte. This omission 
had not prevented the Bishop of Baltimore from cel- 
ebrating the marriage. Napoleon, however, regarded 
it as null and void. It was not till February 22, 
1805, that he obtained his mother's protest, and the 
21st of the next March, by an Imperial decree, he 
annulled the marriage which displeased him, by his 
own authority. Yet, in the eyes of religion, this 
union still existed. The Emperor asked the Pope to 
pronounce it null, but Pius VII. gave the request a 
formal refusal, writing in June, 1805 : " It is beyond 
our power in the present state of things, to pronounce 
it null. If we should usurp an authority we do not 
possess, we should render ourselves guilty of an abuse 
abominable before the throne of God ; and Your 
Majesty himself, in his justice, would blame us for 
pronouncing a sentence contrary to the testimony of 
our conscience, and to the invariable principles of the 
church. . . . That is why we earnestly hope that 
Your Majesty will be convinced that the desire with 
which we are always animated to second his designs, 
so far as depends on us, particularly in a matter so 
closely concerning his august person, has been ren- 



284 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

dered idle by the absolute absence of power, and we 
entreat him to receive this sincere declaration as tes- 
timony of our really paternal affection." This was 
the beginning of the quarrel between the Pope and 
the Emperor. Pius VII. would not yield ; but Napo- 
leon found greater servility in the metropolitan offi- 
cial ty of Paris ; and October 6, 1806, he secured 
a sentence pronouncing the nullity of his brother 
Jerome's marriage with Miss Paterson. 

The King of Wiirtemberg, in the hope that a close 
alliance with the Imperial family would strengthen 
his throne, and procure him accession of land and 
power, had prepared to give to the Emperor's young 
brother the hand of his daughter. Princess Catherine. 
As soon as the King had formed this decision, he 
would not listen to a word of criticism from his fam- 
ily, who were already accustomed never to discuss his 
ideas. The King of Wiirtemberg was a real giant. 
He was so stout -that a broad, deep hollow had to be 
cut out of his dining-table ; for otherwise he would 
not have been able to reach his plate. He was fond 
of riding, but it was not easy to find a horse strong 
enough to carry his enormous weight. The horse 
had to be gradually accustomed to it, and to accom- 
plish this, the equerry who had to prepare the royal 
steed used to wear a band full of lead, to which he 
would add new pieces every day, until he was as 
heavy as the King. This monarch, who was highly 
respected, though greatly feared, by his subjects, had 
some eccentricities. Thus he demanded that his 



THE EMPEROR'S RETURN. 285 

wife should be up and fully dressed by seven in the 
morning ; and insisted that at whatever hour of the 
day or evening it should please him to enter her apart- 
ment, he should find her ready to accompany him 
wherever he might want to go. The Queen, who 
was his second wife, — Princess Catherine was a 
child by his first marriage, — was a daughter of the 
King of England, and consequently she was averse 
to seeing her step-daughter marry the brother of 
England's greatest enemy; but she took good care 
not to make any objections. The King of Wlirtem- 
berg was severe to his family and to his subjects, 
but he was well educated, intelligent, and energetic. 
Napoleon set great store by him, and regarded him as 
a loyal and faithful ally. 

Jerome, who had been made King of Westphalia 
by the treaty of Tilsitt, was the youngest of the 
Emperor's brothers. He was born at Ajaccio, Novem- 
ber 15, 1784, and was not yet twenty-three when he 
married Princess Catherine of Wiirtemberg, who was 
nearly two years older than he, having been born 
February 2, 1783. This Princess had much charm; 
she was tall, handsome, her expression was noble and 
kindly; she inspired every one with sympathy and 
respect. She was a woman remarkable for intelli- 
gence, virtue, and affection. She was to be a model 
wife and mother. She it was who, in 1814, refused 
to get a divorce and to abandon an unfortunate hus- 
band, a dethroned king. She it was who wrote to 
her father this admirable letter, without fear of his 



286 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

anger : " Having been forced by reasons of state to 
marry the King, my husband, it has been granted me 
by fate to be the happiest woman in the world. I 
feel for my husband love, tenderness, esteem, com- 
bined; at this painful moment would the best of 
fathers desire to destroy my domestic happiness, the 
only sort left to me ? I venture to tell you, my dear 
father, you and all the family, that you do not know 
the King, my husband. A time will come, I hope, 
when you will be convinced that you have misjudged 
him and then you will always find him and me the 
most respectful and most loving children." She was 
the courageous woman, the faithful wife, the devoted 
mother, of whom Napoleon said at Saint Helena: 
" Princess Catherine of AViirtemberg has with her 
own hands written her name in history." 

Jerome's marriage was an event of great ceremony. 
It Avas first celebrated, by prox}^, at Stuttgart, the 
Princess's brother representing the bridegroom. The 
Emperor sent presents to his future sister-in-law, 
amono- other thino^s a set of diamonds worth three 
hundred thousand francs. A detachment from the 
Emperor's household and many of the Empress's 
ladies of the bedchamber went to the frontiers to 
meet the Princess. She reached the Castle of Raincy, 
August 20, 1807, and there saw her betrothed for 
the first time, and the 21st, Napoleon received her at 
the Tuileries on the first step of the great staircase. 
As she bowed before him, he folded her in liis arms, 
then he presented her to the Empress, before the 



THE EMPEROR'S RETURN. 287 

whole court and the deputies of the new kingdom 
of Westphalia, who had been summoned to Paris to 
be present at the marriage of their young sovereign 
with a Princess belonging to one of the oldest and 
most illustrious families of Germany. 

Saturday, August 22, the signature of the marriage 
contract and the civil wedding took place at the 
Tuileries, in the Gallery of Diana, in presence of the 
Emperor, the Empress, the ladies and officers of their 
households and the great personages of the Empire. 
M. Regnault de Saint-Jean d'Ang^ly, Secretary of 
State of the Imperial familj^, read the marriage-con- 
tract, which was then signed by the Emperor, the' 
Empress, the young couple, the Princes and Prin- 
cesses, the Prince Primate of the Confederation of 
the Rhine, the Prince's high dignitaries of the 
Empire, and the witnesses of the marriage. The 
witnesses were, for the court of France: Prince 
Borghese, Prince Murat, Grand Duke of Berg, and 
Marshal Berthier, Prince of Neufchatel ; for the court 
of Wiirtemberg : the Prince of Baden ; the Prince 
of Nassau; and the Count of Winzingerode, the 
Minister of Wiirtemberg. Prince Cambacdr^s, Arch- 
chancellor of the Empire, then received the consent 
of the couple and pronounced the formula of the 
civil marriage. 

The next day, Sunday, August 23, 1807, at eight 
in the evening, the religious marriage was celebrated 
in the chapel of the Tuileries, the galleries being 
filled with the diplomatic bodies, the foreign princes 



288 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

and noblemen and invited guests. The procession 
was brilliant. On entering tlie chapel, Napoleon 
gave his hand to the Princess Catherine, and Jerome 
his to the Empress. The Prince Primate of the Con- 
federation of the Rhine, Archbishop of Regensburg, 
Sovereign Prince of that cit}^, of Aschaffenburg, of 
Frankfort, etc., surrounded by his clergy and his 
court, stood at the chapel door. He gave holy water 
to the Emperor and the Empress, who at once went 
to their praying-chairs ; then he gave the nuptial 
blessing to the young couple, while the canopy was 
held by the Bishop of Ghent and the Abb^ of Bou- 
logne, the Emperor's Almoners. After the ceremony, 
they all went back from the chapel to the grand 
apartments, where followed a concert, a ballet, and 
a reception in the Hall of the Marshals. Twice 
Napoleon appeared on the balcony, showing the newly 
married pair the vast throng filling the garden of the 
Tuileries. Unfoi'tunately, a sudden storm prevented 
the display of fireworks. 
. While the thunder was roaring and the rain pour- 
ing down, the Empress, at her young brother-in-law's 
marriage, was the prey to sad reflections. She 
thought of the deserted American wife, who, far 
away, was weeping, while her husband, the father of 
her children, was joyfully leading another wife to the 
altar. Josephine doubtless thought that soon perhaps 
her lot would be the same as that of the unhappy 
Miss Paterson; that she would be sacrificed, aban- 
doned, repudiated in the very same way. 



THE EMPEUOB'S BETTJBN. 289 

The Empress liacl another cause of grief. At the 
Pyrenees her daughter Hortense had become recon- 
ciled with Louis, and was soon to be the mother of 
the cliild afterwards known as Napoleon III. But in 
a few weeks the incongeniality of their dispositions, 
for a moment forgotten in their common grief, as- 
serted itself anew. On their return to Paris, at the 
end of August, the discord between the King and the 
Queen of Holland was as violent as ever. The King, 
more uneasy and suspicious than ever before, wanted 
to carry his wife to Holland, but the Queen had an 
aversion to the country where she had suffered so 
much, and to its fatal climate. She feared that if she 
should return there she might lose her second son 
like the first. Her health was wretched ; she feared 
that her lungs were affected. In France she felt that 
the Emperor protected her from her husband's anger. 
Holland seemed to her a gloomy, damp, melancholy 
prison, of which the King, her husband, Avould be the 
jailor. Louis Bonaparte was furious at liis wife's re- 
sistance, all the more that he was obliged to hide his 
feelings. Napoleon, who held his family, like his 
Empire, in absolute control, gave Louis, as well as his i/ 
other brothers, orders which they had to obey without 
a word or a murmur. The King of Holland returned 
to his kingdom alone, his wife stayed in France, but 
in the gloomiest spirits, with mind and body disor- 
dered, disenchanted about all human things. " From 
that time," she said later, " I understood that my mis- 
fortunes were beyond cure ; I looked upon my life as 



290 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

destroyed; I conceived a horror of grandeur, of a 
throne ; I often cursed what so many called my good 
fortune; I felt lost to all enjoyment of life, shorn 
of all illusions, nearly dead to everything going on 
about me." Under other conditions, the Empress 
would have been delighted to have her daughter with 
her, but she found her so dejected, so morose, and so 
unhappy, that her presence was quite as much a grief 
as a comfort for her. These were the feelings of the 
Empress of the French and of the Queen of Holland 
when they went to Fontainebleau with the court at 
the end of September, 1807. There the Emperor 
lived more splendidly than ever, surrounding himself 
with all the pomp and majesty of monarchy. 



XXV. 

THE COURT AT FONTAINEBLEAU. 

rriHE court arrived at the Palace of Fontaine- 
JL bleau September 21, 1807, and stayed there 
until November 15. Napoleon felt the need of display- 
ing unprecedented luxury. He wanted to have the 
Diplomatic Corps send to foreign powers the account 
of magnificent festivities. This splendid palace, with 
its proud memories of the old French monarchy, was 
a residence that pleased him. He liked to be sur- 
rounded by great persons, whether foreigners or 
Frenchmen, who rivalled one another in flattery, 
zeal, and homage towards him. In his opinion, fes- 
tivities and battles added to the glory of the throne. 
Desiring to be in everything first, he was very anxious 
for his court to be esteemed the most brilliant in 
Europe. 

There were various types among the guests at Fon- 
tainebleau. There was Napoleon's mother, rather 
Italian than French by birth, and in face and accent. 
She recalled the characters of antiquity, unspoiled 
by prosperity, austere in her life, simple in her taste, 
rigidly economical, less from avarice than a distrust 

291 



^92 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPBINE. 

of the continuance of her son's good fortune. There 
was the beautiful Princess Borghese, Duchess of 
Guastalla, more elegant, more fashionable, more 
attractive than ever; then Madame Murat, rich in 
freshness and brilliancy, not satisfied with being a 
French Princess and Grand Duchess of Berg, but 
yearning to be a Queen ; the Queen of Holland, on 
the other hand, in despair at having ascended the 
throne, and plunged in a deep melancholy in marked 
contrast with the splendors surrounding her in spite 
of herself. Then Joseph Bonaparte's wife, the Queen 
of Naples, whose tastes were modest, and who pre- 
ferred Paris to her Italian kingdom. There were many 
Princes and great lords in the crowd of courtiers, the 
sat^lites of the Imperial sun. In the Gallery of 
Henry II. were to be distinguished a cluster of Ger- 
man Princes: the Grand Duke of Wiirzburg, who 
did not seem to sigh for his Grand Duchy of Tus- 
cany, finding ample consolation in singing Italian 
pieces, for music was his passion ; the Prince Primate 
of the Confederation of the Rhine, Archbishop of 
Regensburg, Sovereign Prince of that city and of 
Frankfort, who, in spite of his position in the church, 
joined the Emperor's hunt; Prince William of 
Prussia, who hoped by his de^s^ion to alleviate the 
troubles of his country, and to modify the demands 
of the hero of Jena; the Prince of Mecklenburg- 
Schwerin, conspicuous for his formal German polite- 
ness; the young Prince of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, 
brother of the Queen of Prussia, less interested in 



THE COURT AT FONTAINEBLEAU. 293 

the patriotic grievances of his sister, than in his assid- 
uous court to the Empress Josephine, whose respect- 
ful platonic lover he was ; the Prince of Baden, who, 
although the brother-in-law of the Emperor of Rus- 
sia, the King of Bavaria, and the King of Sweden, 
was proud to have married a Mademoiselle de Beau- 
harnais, daughter of a simple Senator of the Empire, 
with but one regret — that his wife did not love him 
enough; Jerome, the young and brilliant King of 
Westphalia, apparently forgetful of Elisabeth Pater- 
son, and full of mad love for his new wife, Princess 
Catherine of Wiirtemberg. 

In the Gallery of Henry II. was also to be seen 
Murat, who, after his triumphal entry into Warsaw, 
thought of nothing but crowns, anxiously wondering 
whether he was to be King of Poland, or of Portugal, 
of Spain, or of Naples. There were the high digni- 
taries of the Empire, the foreign ambassadors, the 
marshals, the ministers; M. de Talleyrand with his 
enormous salary, his high position as Grand Cham- 
berlain and Vice-Elector, his title of Prince of Bene- 
vento, always sparkling with the cold, sceptical, 
politely contemptuous wit that distinguished those 
who belonged to the old regime — Talleyrand, who, 
in the Emperor's closet possibly spoke to him with a 
certain freedom, but in the Gallery of Henry II. 
resembled the other courtiers and kept a profound 
silence as his master drew near. Then the Count of 
Segur, Grand Master of Ceremonies, as attractive in 
the court of Napoleon as he had been in that of 



294 COUBT OF THE EMPRJESS JOSEPHINE. 

Catherine II. as ambassador of Louis XVI. ; Marshal 
Berthier, Grand Master of the Horse, Vice-Constable, 
Sovereign Prince of Neufchatel, as devoted to Madame 
Visconti as if he were a youth of twenty ; Count Tol- 
stoi, the brilliant ambassador of the Emperor Alex- 
ander; M. de Metternich, the fascinating and skilful 
Austrian Ambassador, conspicuous by his admiration 
for Princess Murat. 

When the Emperor entered, all eyes were turned 
towards him alone ; about him centred all interest, 
all intrigues, all ambitions. He appeared as the 
dispenser of fortune, the arbiter of destiny, the 
exceptional being on whom depended individuals, 
kingdoms, empires. He filled it all with his presence ; 
everjr one semed to live only for and by the Emperor. 
A smile, a word, the slightest mark of attention on 
his part, seemed a precious reward, a marked honor. 
As soon as he entered, a quiver of admiration and 
of terror seemed to run through the air. Every one 
bowed like a horse who sniffs the approach of his 
master ; they almost prostrated themselves before 
him. Any one to whom he spoke, stammered, feared 
to reply, turned pale and red ; and he, rejoicing in 
their embarrassment, gloried in the wide gulf he had 
set between himself and all other human beings. 
Even foreigners seemed to be his subjects. What- 
ever their position, whatever their coat-of-arms, by 
his side they were vulgar supernumeraries. His 
power appeared to be limitless, like his genius ; and 
believing everything possible, looking upon himself 



THE COURT AT FONTAINEBLEAU. 295 



as a prodigy, a living miracle, he exulted proudly 
and majestically in his glory. 

Under the second Empire, Avhat were called the 
series of Compi^gne and of Fontainebleau were much 
less ceremonious than under the first. All the guests 
of Napoleon III. breakfasted and dined at his table, — 
in the morning in frock-coat, in the evening in black 
coat and knee breeches ; no uniforms were to be seen. 
Women appeared at breakfast in morning dress ; they 
wore no especial dress at the hunt. Before dinner 
the Empress used to receive a few specially invited 
guests to drink tea. All day the Emperor left the 
company perfectly free. In the evening there was 
dancing to the music of a piano like a hand-organ, 
of which a chamberlain turned the handle. The 
Emperor was treated with great deference, but no 
one feared him, because liis words were always 
marked by great affability. Napoleon I., on the 
other hand, was perhaps more feared than admired. 
Those who were charged with organizing his enter- 
tainments were perfectly happy if he was silent ; for 
he almost never gave a word of praise and often 
criticised. It was a conspicuous and rare honor, 
even for Princes, to dine with him. There were 
besides at Fontainebleau, in 1807, several distinct 
tables : those of the Princes and Princesses of the 
Imperial family, Avho often gave grand dinners ; that 
of the Grand Marshal of the Palace, with twenty-five 
places ; that of the Empress's Maid of Honor, with 
the same number; and, finally, a last table for all 



296 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

those who had received no special invitation. The 
Princesses paid the cost of installing themselves 
there out of their own purses, while under Napoleon 
III., at Fontainebleau, or at Compi^gne, all the ex- 
penses were defrayed by the Emperor. Under the 
first Empire only those holding high official position 
were invited to the Imperial residences ; under the 
second, many were invited who were famous only 
for their elegance. Under Napoleon I., where every- 
thing was formal, scarcely anything but tragedy was 
played at the court; under Napoleon III., lighter 
plays were often given. The hunts were very simple 
under the second Emperor and very magnificent 
under the first. In 1807 Napoleon had ordered that 
women who went to the coursing should wear a 
special costume ; that of the Empress and of all the 
ladies of her household was of amaranthine velvet, 
embroidered with gold, and a cap with white feathers ; 
that of the Princesses, blue for the Queen of Holland, 
pink for the Princess Murat, lilac for the Princess 
Borghese, all adorned with silver embroidery. The 
Emperor and all his guests wore the same hunting 
dress for coursing: a green coat with gold buttons 
and lace, breeches of white cassimere, Hessian boots 
without tops ; for shooting, a green coat, with no 
other ornament than white buttons, on which were 
carved hunting emblems. Under the first Empire, 
etiquette was most rigid ; under the second, it hardly 
existed. At every moment of day and evening. 
Napoleon I. wore a twofold air as commander-in- 



THE COURT AT FONTAINEBLEAU. 297 

chief and sovereign; Napoleon III. was like a man 
of the world receiving his friends in his own castle. 

From September 21 to November 15, 1807, the 
great general had commanded that there should be 
amusement in the Palace of Fontainebleau. Pleasure 
was ordered, but it does not come at call. The Em- 
peror, accustomed to have his every wish obeyed, was 
surprised to see that not every face was radiant. 
" Strange," he said, " I have gathered a good many 
people here at Fontainebleau ; I want them to amuse 
themselves, I have arranged their pleasures, yet every 
one seems tired and sad." The Italian son^s, even 
when sung by the best singers, in costume and with 
all the scenery, produced but a feeble impression. 
The tragedies seemed to induce slumber. The little 
balls, or, more exactly, the little hops in the apartment 
of the Maid of Honor, Madame de la Rochefoucauld, 
were very dull. Sometimes little games Avere played 
there ; they gave a flash of gaiety, but as soon as the 
Emperor appeared, every one assumed a serious, coin- 
posed air. Might one not say once more what La- 
Bruyere said when speaking of the court of Louis 
XIV. : " Who would believe that this eagerness for 
shows, that meals, hunts, ballets, tilting-matches, 
crowned so many anxieties, pains, and chverse inter- 
ests, so many fears and hopes, so many lively passions, 
and serious affairs ? " A palace is not built for ease. 
All its formalities hang heavy on every guest; the 
whole of every day is spent in playing a part. 

Amid all these empty pleasures and hollow joys 



298 COURT OF THE EMPBESS JOSEPHINE. 

there was no lack of sorrow. It was there that the 
wretched Queen Hortense, spitting blood, mourning 
the ]Dast and dreading the future, said to Napoleon : 
" My reputation is tainted, my health ruined, I expect 
no more happiness in life ; banish me from your court ; 
if you wish, lock me up in a convent, I desire neither 
throne nor fortune. Give peace to my mother, glory 
to Eugene, who deserves it, but let me live a calm and 
solitary life." She had been happier as an unknown 
schoolgirl at Madame Campan's, just as her mother, 
the Empress of the French and the Queen of Italy, 
must have often sighed for the island of Martinique, 
where she would have preferred the splash of the 
waves to the courtiers' murmur of obsequious flattery. 
Napoleon himself, at the height of human glory, had 
lost the peace of heart which he enjoyed in his boy- 
hood, and never found again. 

The Empress Josephine naturally held the highest 
place in this brilliant court of Fontainebleau, and was 
the object of untiring homage; few, however, sus- 
pected the anxieties that tormented her, so calm and 
happy did she appear, with a kind word and a gracious 
smile for every one. 

M. de Metternich, the Austrian Ambassador who 
was then at Fontainebleau, took pains to ascertain 
the causes of her secret sorrow, and sent the details 
to his government. He wrote to von Stadion : " In 
many of my previous reports I have had the honor of 
speaking to Your Excellency about the long current 
rumors regarding the approaching divorce of the Em- 



THE COURT AT FONTAINEBLEATI. 299 

peror. After circulating vaguely in the last two 
months, they have become the subject of general and 
public discussion. It is true of these rumors, as of all 
not stamped out at their birth, that they rest on some 
foundation of truth, or they would be promptly 
silenced, if they were not directly tolerated." Then 
the clear-sighted ambassador reported in the same de- 
spatch what he had learned, thanks to his relations with 
persons to whom the Empress had made revelations : 
" Since his return from the armj-, the Emperor's bear- 
ing towards his wife has been cold and embarrassed. 
He no longer lives in the same apartment with her, 
and many of his daily habits have undergone a change. 
Rumors of the Empress's divorce began at that 
moment to assume a more serious form ; when they 
reached her ears she simply waited for some direct 
information, without letting the Emperor see the 
slightest anxiety." 

Josephine was sorely stricken, and her sufferings 
were all the more intense because she had to hide 
them from every one, especially from her husband, 
and they made a marked contrast, by the irony of 
fate, with the pleasures and amusements that sur- 
rounded her. She was too clear-sighted and intelli- 
gent to proceed to question the Emperor. She feared 
light and dreaded the truth. She hesitated before 
the abyss that awaited her, and shuddered before the 
Emperor's glance. She suffered on the throne, as if 
it were an instrument of torture. It was then that 
Fouch^ took some steps which doubled her anguish. 



300 COURT OF THE EMPBESS JOSEPHINE. 

The incident is thus recounted by Prince Metternich 
in the despatch already cited : " One day the Minis- 
ter of Police visited her at Fontainebleau, and after a 
short preamble, told her that the public good, and, 
above all, the strengthening of the existing dynasty 
requiring that the Emperor should have children, she 
ought to ask the Senate to join with her in demanding 
of the Emperor a sacrifice most painful to his heart. 
The Empress, who was prepared for the question, 
asked Fouch^, with great coolness, if he took this 
step by the Emperor's orders. 'No,' he replied; 'I 
speak to Your Majesty as a minister charged with a 
general supervision, as a private citizen, as a subject 
devoted to his country's glory.' ' In that case I have 
nothing to say to you,' interrupted the Empress ; ' I 
regard my union with the Emperor as written in the 
book of Fate. I shall never discuss the matter with 
any one but him, and never will do anything but what 
he orders.' " Josephine, when she mentioned this 
conversation to her confidant, M. de Lavalette, who 
had married a Mademoiselle de Beauharnais, said to 
him in great perplexity ; " Is it not clear that Fouche 
was sent by the Emperor and that my fate is settled ? 
Alas ! To leave the throne is nothing to me. Who 
knows better than I do how many tears I have shed 
there? But to lose at the same time the .man to 
whom I have given my best love, that sacrifice is 
beyond my strength." 

But to return to Prince Metternich's despatch: 
" Many days passed without incident, when suddenly 



THE COURT AT FONTAINEBLEAU. 301 

the Emperor began to share again the Empress's 
apartment and took a favorable moment to ask why 
she had been so sad for some days. The Empress 
then told him of her interview with Fouche. The 
Emperor confirmed his statement that he had never 
given him any such orders. He added that she 
ought to know him well enough to be sure that he 
had no need of any go-between to manage matters 
with her, and made her promise to report to him any- 
thing further she might hear about the matter." 
Josephine was not at all comforted. Napoleon's 
explanation was very embarrassed, and who could 
think that so crafty and ambitious a man as Fouch^ 
could assume the responsibility of such a negotiation 
if he supposed that thereby he exposed himself to his 
master's wrath ? 

The Minister of Police did not confine himself to 
mere spoken words. A few days after his interview 
with the Empress, he wrote to her a long letter on 
large paper, in which he set forth all the arguments 
he had already brought forward, to urge upon her 
the spontaneous sacrifice which Avould be the more 
meritorious, the more painful it was. Josephine, 
who received this letter in the evening, summoned 
M. de Remusat at midnight to show it to him. 
"What shall I do," she asked, "to ward off this 
storm?" "Madame," replied the First Chamberlain, 
" my advice is to go this very moment to the Em- 
peror, if he has not gone to bed, or else the very first 
thing to-morrow morning. Remember, you must 



302 COURT OF THE EMPHESS JOSEPHINE. 

seem to have consulted no one. Make him read this 
letter ; watch him as closely as you can ; but, what- 
ever happens, show that you hate these roundabout 
methods, and tell him again that you will never 
listen to anything but a direct order from him." 

The Empress did as he said. Napoleon, to use a 
common expression, was *' cornered." He pretended 
to be much surprised, and very angry ; promised " to 
comb Fouche's head," and even added that if she 
desired he would take away his portfolio ; and to 
calm her he went so far as to write to the Minister 
of Police this letter, dated Fontainebleau, November 
5, 1807 : — 

" Monsieur Fouche : In the last fortnight I have 
heard of your foolish actions; it is time for you 
to put an end to them, and to stop interfering, 
directly or indirectly, in a matter which in no way 
concerns you ; that is my wish." 

Fouche was not at all disturbed by his master's 
reproach. He was at heart convinced that he had 
not displeased him; he kept his portfolio, and was 
sure that the divorce, though postponed, was irre- 
vocably decided on by the Emperor. Josephine had 
no more illusions. It was in vain that Napoleon 
spoke to her kindly, and tried to console her with 
kisses and even tears, — for Napoleon used to cry 
sometimes, — after Fouche had made his overtures 
she had no more peace of mind. 

The end of the stay at Fontainebleau was very 
gloomy. All became tired of this life of empty show, 



THE COURT AT FONTAINEBLEAV. 303 

of the perpetual constraint, of the pleasures which 
by dint of repetition became dull and monotonous. 
Every one longed for home, to escape from this mas- 
ter's glances ; for his presence inspired an admiration 
tempered with dread. The women had spent vast 
sums in their dress. The men had indulged in ambi- 
tious plans almost always futile. The German 
princelings had suffered in their lordly pride and 
German patriotism by having to bow their heads 
before the formidable man whose humble vassals 
they were, and these men, vain of their coat-of-arms, 
had not seen without a secret spite the crushing- 
superiority of a poor Corsican gentleman. This 
great conqueror himself was not happy in all his 
splendor. Although he was no longer in love with 
his wife, it was not without sadness that he had seen 
her uneasiness and grief. Anxiety about the condi- 
tion of Spain, which was so fatal to him, cast a cloud 
on his brow. When hunting in the forest, he was 
often seen to lose himself in thought and to let his 
horse wander as he pleased. At the theatrical per- 
formances it was noticed that, absorbed and dis- 
tracted, he appeared to think less of the play than of 
his vast plans. 

Not long since I visited the palace and the forest 
of Fontainebleau, in one of those cold but bright 
autumn days when the half bare trees have a strange 
appearance, when some leaves are as red as blood, 
others as yellow as gold, and nature wears all the 
countless hues which defy the artist's brush. The 



304 COUBT OF THE EMPBESS JOSEPHINE. 

forest is wonderfully beautiful with its marvellous 
combination of trees and rocks. All the kings of 
France since Louis YII. have inhabited this palace. 
The holy head of Louis IX. appears there with 
his aureola on his head. In the gallery of Francis 
L, with its nymphs and fauns, amid garlands, fruits, 
and emblems, one recalls that King and Charles Y. 
who entered the palace by the gilded door, and 
who took part in the great festival in the forest, 
when nymphs, fauns, and gods seemed to issue from 
the trunks of oaks to the sound of tambourines, and 
a band of maidens flung flowers before the feet of 
the Spanish court. One recalls, too, Catharine de' 
Medici with her squadron of young and brilliant 
amazons — Catharine de' Medici who in this palace 
brought forth her two sons, Francis 11. and Henry 
HI. At the end of the oval court is a dome of rich 
and picturesque construction, called the baptistery of 
Louis XIII. because that king was baptized there. 
Then there are the apartments of the queen 
mothers : Catharine de' Medici, Maria de' Medici, 
Anne of Austria, and those of Pius VIL, a captive 
at Fontainebleau. In the bedroom of the queen 
mothers an altar was raised where the Vicar of Christ 
said mass. The hangings of embroidered satin in 
this room were a wedding-gift from the city of Lyons 
to Marie Antoinette. The room is a model of luxury 
and elegance, and is called the Chamber of the Five 
Maries because it has been inhabited by five sover- 
eigns bearing that name, Maria de' Medici, Maria 



I 



THE COURT AT FONTAINEBLEAU. 305 

Theresa, Marie Antoinette, Marie Louise, and Marie 
Am^lie. It was also the Empress Eugenie's chamber. 
This marvellously picturesque palace of Fontaine- 
bleau is full of interesting reminiscences, but of all 
the figures it recalls, no figure is more impressive 
than that of Napoleon. There is much gorgeous fur- 
niture in the palace of various sorts, in the style of 
the renaissance, of Louis XIY., Louis XY., and Louis 
XVI. ; but no piece attracts more attention than the 
plain mahogany table on which Napoleon signed his 
abdication. Then how impressive is the bedroom 
where he spent terrible nights, unable to sleej), and at 
last seeking in suicide a cure for his despair ! Con- 
sider the contrast between 1807 and 1814 ! Mean- 
while there had been changes of face, many apostasies. 
"Ah! Caulaincourt, mankind, mankind!" exclaimed 
the deserted Emperor. Every one left him, promising 
him a speedy return, but no one thought of it. Fon- 
tainebleau became a desert. If the sound of wheels 
was heard, it was never of carriages arriving, but only 
of carriages going away. It was at Fontainebleau that 
Napoleon's pride triumphed, and there that his pride 
suffered its crudest humiliations. What anguish he 
endured, this man of destiny, in that room where he 
wrote : " To finish my career by signing a treaty in 
which I have not been able to stipulate a single gen- 
eral interest, nor even one moral interest, such as the 
preservation of our colonies, or the maintenance of 
the Legion of Honor! To sign a treaty by which 
money is given to me ! " What anguish tore his 



306 COUBT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

mind and body when, having taken too small a dose 
of poison, he said between his spasms : " How hard it 
is to die, and it is so easy on the battle-field ! Why 
didn't I die at Arcis-sur-Aube ! " Did he then recall 
the splendor of his return from Jena, from Friedland, 
from Tilsitt ? Did he remember the crowd of court- 
iers who resembled priests whose God he was ? The 
only courtiers left were those to whom he had given 
neither money nor honors, the old soldiers of his 
guard, with their gray mustaches, who could not 
restrain their sobs and tears when, in the Court of the 
White Horse, he bade them farewell, saying, "I 
should like to embrace you in my arms, but let me 
embrace this flag which represents you." 



XXVI. 

THE END OF THE YEAH 1807. 

WHILE the court was still at Fontaine bleau, the 
Empress received a piece of news, which had 
been kept back from her for some days, and which 
added materially to her sorrows. Her widowed 
mother, Madame Tascher de la Pagerie, whom she 
had not seen since September, 1790, had died June 
2, 1807, at the age of seventy, in her home at Marti- 
nique. Josephine, who was much attached to her 
mother, had done her best to persuade her to come 
to France, where she would have been sure of the 
warmest welcome. But that venerable lady had per- 
haps chosen more wisely in preferring her modest 
and quiet home to all the splendor and excitement 
of an Imperial palace. From afar she thought of her 
daughter at the summit of human happiness ; near 
her, she would often have seen her sad and down- 
cast. By not approaching the throne which, at a 
distance, appears like a magic seat, but, to use the 
Emperor's expression, is in fact only an armchair 
covered with velvet. Napoleon's mother-in-law was 
spared the sight of much miser)', and she died, as 
she had lived, in peace. 

307 



308 COVET OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

The Emperor left for Italy November 16, 1807, 
and this departure was for Josephine, already so 
afQicted, another source of anxiety and sadness. She 
would gladly have gone with him, and have seen 
once more Eugene and her granddaughter, who was 
named after her ; but Napoleon had decided other- 
wise. He was no longer unable to live without his 
wife, and he no longer thought with La Fontaine that 
absence was the greatest of evils. He alleged as rea- 
son, the inclemency of the winter, said that he should 
be back early in December — in fact, he did not 
return to the Tuileries till January 1 — and to the 
Empress's great despair set off Avithout her, leaving 
her the prey of the liveliest anxiety, the crudest 
fears. 

In Italy Napoleon received the same ardent flattery 
as in France. He reached Milan November 22, before 
Prince Eugene had had time to ride out to meet 
him. After ovations, reviews, religious ceremonies 
at the Cathedral, grand performances at the Scala, he 
went to Venice. Here he was received with all the 
luxury that used to be displayed at the majestic mar- 
riage of the doge and the Adriatic. When he reached 
Fusina, he entered a gondola rowed by men in satin 
coats embroidered with gold. He entered the grand 
canal beneath an arch of triumph between a double 
line of boats adorned with festoons and garlands. At 
the Venice theatre he saw a grand performance repre- 
senting Olympus, and then was played, amid applause, 
the popular air, Napoleone il cjrande. He had with 



THE END OF THE YEAB 1807. 309 

him in Venice his brother Joseph, King of Naples ; 
his sister, Elisa Bacciochi, Princess of Lncca ; his 
step-son, Prince Engene, Viceroy of Italy ; the King 
and Queen of Bavaria, the father-in-law and mother- 
in-law of this Prince ; Murat, Grand Duke of Berg, 
and Berthier, Prince of Neufchatel. He left Vienna 
December 8, dining at Treviso. The lltli he was at 
Udine, and the 14th at Mantua. 

It was in this city that he had a secret interview 
with his brother Lucien, with whom he wished to be 
reconciled, but on one absolute condition, sine qua 
71071. It will be remembered that Lucien, against the 
First Consul's wishes, had married Alexandrine de 
Bleschamps, widow of M. Jouberthon ; who, after 
being a broker in Paris, had died in Saint Domingo, 
whither he had followed the French expedition. Napo- 
leon, who was anxious to marry Lucien with Queen 
Marie Louise, daughter of Charles IV. of Spain, and 
widow of Louis L, King of Etruria, wished to annul 
this marriage. But this brilliant offer had been per- 
emptorily declined by the man Avho preferred a wom- 
an's love to a crown. In the spring of 1804 Lucien 
had voluntarily left France to seek in Rome an 
asylum from his brother's incessant reproaches and 
demands. His mother, Madame Letitia, who thor- 
oughly approved of him, had folloAved him to Rome, 
and the Emperor had met with some ' difficulty in 
persuading her to return to Paris, which she only did 
after the coronation. 

M. de Meneval went by night to fetch Lucien from 



310 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

the inn where he was staying, and led him mysteri- 
ously to the palace which the Emperor occupied. 
Lucien, instead of falling in his brother's arms, 
greeted him coldly, with dignified reserve. 

Stanislas de Girardin, in his interesting " Journal," 
has recounted the interview of the two brothers, as 
he heard it from Lucien himself. They said very 
much what follows : — 

" Well, sir, do you still hold to Madame Jouber- 
thon and her son ? " 

" Madame Jouberthon is my wife, and her son is 
my son." 

" No, no, since it is a marriage which I do not rec- 
ognize, and consequently null." 

" I contracted it lawfully, as citizen and as Chris- 
tian." 

" The civil act was illegal, and it is known that 
you gave a priest twenty-five louis-d'or to persuade 
him to marry you." 

" Doubtless Your Majesty, when he invited me 
here, did not do so for the purpose of paining me ; if 
that is his intention, I Avithdraw." 

" I have conquered Europe, and certainly I should 
not flinch before you. You owe your peaceful life 
in Rome to my kindness ; but you are acquiring there 
a consideration which displeases me, and in time you 
will annoy me ; I will order you to go away, and I 
will make you leave Europe." 

" And if I should not obey ? " 

" I will have you arrested," 



THE END OF THE YEAR 1807. 311 

" And then ? " 

"I shall have you sent to Bicetre and then if — " 

" I should defy you to commit a crime ! " 

" Don't speak to me in that way ; don't imagine you 
can impose on me. I repeat, I have not conquered 
Europe to flinch before you. Leave the room." 

Lucien did not leave, and Napoleon, after a few 
violent words, became a little calmer. Lucien then 
renewed the stormy discussion, trying to pacify his 
brother. 

" I had no intention of displeasing Your Majesty 
by saying what should show the high opinion I have 
of the greatness of his soul." 

" Never mind that ; cast your eyes on the map of 
the world then. Join us, Lucien, and take your 
share ; it will be a fine one, I promise you. The 
throne of Portugal is empty; I have declared that 
the King shall cease to reign. I will give it to you ; 
take command of the army destined to make an easy 
conquest of it, and I Avill make you a French Prince 
and my lieutenant. The daughters of your first wife 
shall be my nieces ; I will establish them in life. I 
will marry the eldest to the Prince of the Asturias ; 
the King of Spain asks it of me as a favor ; I can 
prove it b}' this letter." 

"My eldest daughter. Sire, is not yet thirteen; 
she is not old enough to be married." 

" I thought she was older." 

" In a year or two, I will gladly let you dispose of 
her," 



312 COURT OF THE EMPBESS JOSEPHINE. 

" Then there are no difficulties about the children 
of your first wife. You have daughters by your 
second wife. I will adopt them; you have a boy 
too ; I shall not recognize him ; his mother will have 
an important duchy, and he can be her heir. As for 
you, go to Lisbon, leave your wife and your son in 
Rome ; I will look after them. Your ties are broken. 
I will find a way." 

" That can only be by divorce." 

" And why not? That is a frank and positive way 
which perfectly suits me. I want to be reconciled 
with you, and you know the price attached to the 
Portuguese croAvn." 

" I see that to get it I should have to consent to 
make my wife a concubine, my son a bastard. Your 
Majesty knows me ill if he has been able to believe 
that the offer of a crown could tempt me to a dishon- 
orable action." 

" He who is not for me, is against me ; if you 
don't enter into my system, you are my enemy ; and 
thereby I have the right of persecuting you and I 
shall persecute you." 

" I do not want to be your enemy. Sire ; I cannot 
become one by preserving my honor and my virtue, 
by refusing to give up my reputation for a throne ; 
and that this disagreement may be unknown, let 
Your Majesty give me some conspicuous proof of his 
kindness ; give me the broad ribbon of the Legion of 
Honor, I beg of you ! " 

"No; by taking my colors you would ruin your 



THE END OF THE YEAR 1807. 313 

reputation; it is a great thing to be opposed to me, 
and it is a fine part to play ; you can continue it for 
two years without inconvenience, but then you will 
have to leave Europe." 

"Much sooner, and I shall prepare to leave for 
America. Only the entreaties of my mother and 
Josephine have kept me here so long." 

" I don't ask that of you ; my propositions are not 
too unreasonable to be thought over; ponder them, 
with your wife, and let me know your answer within 
eighteen days." 

At the end of the interview the two brothers 
parted with emotion. Lucien flung himself into 
his brother's arms, saying that doubtless he was 
embracing him for the last time, and left for Rome 
with his head high. He was obliged to yield only on 
one point, by sending to Paris his oldest daughter, 
Charlotte Marie, the issue of his first marriage with 
Christine Boyer. (She was born at Saint Maximini 
in February, 1795, and in 1815 married Prince 
Marius Gabrielli.) But the young girl had all her 
father's independent spirit. In Paris she was en- 
trusted to the care of her grandmother, Madame 
Letitia, and she spoke so severely about the Imperial 
family in her letters, which were opened, that she 
was sent back to her father in Rome almost as soon 
as she had arrived in France. As for the idea of an 
annulment of the marriage or a divorce, Lucien ab- 
solutely rejected it. He preferred his wife to all the 
wealth, all the honors, all the kingdoms of the Avorld. 
Jerome had yielded. Lucien did not yield. 



314 COURT OF THE EMPBESS JOSEPHINE. 

Napoleon left Mantua after his interview with his 
brother, and returned to Milan, where, December 17, 
he witnessed some naval sports in the arena of the 
circus, which was turned into a lake. There too, De- 
cember 20, in the grand hall of the palace, he adopted 
Prince Eugene as his son and declared him his heir to 
the crown of Italy. At the same time he issued these 
two decrees : " Wishing to give especial proof of our 
satisfaction with our good city of Venice, we have 
conferred, and by these letters-patent here present do 
confer, upon our dearly loved son. Prince Eugene 
Napoleon, our heir presumptive to the crown of Italy, 
the title of Prince of Venice." " Wishing to give 
especial proof of our satisfaction with our good city 
of Bologna, we have conferred, and by these letters- 
patent here present do confer, the title of Princess of 
Bologna upon our dearly loved granddaughter, the 
Princess Josephine." Napoleon left Milan, Decem- 
ber 24, to return to Paris by way of Turin. 

The letters which the Emperor wrote to his wife 
during this trip were very empty and unimportant, 
wholly unlike those he had written in 1793. Only 
a few need be quoted. " Milan, November, 25, 1807. 
I have been here, my dear, two days. I am glad I 
did not bring you. You would have suffered terribly 
crossing Mount Cenis where a storm detained me 
twenty-four hours. I found Eugene very well ; I am 
much pleased with him. The Princess is ill ; I went 
to see her at Monza ; she has had a miscarriage, but 
is improving. Good by, my dear." "Venice, No- 



THE END OF THE YEAR 1S07. 315 

vember 30, 1807. I have your letter of the 22d. I 
have been for two days in Venice. The weather is 
very bad, which has not prevented my going through 
the lagoons to see the different forts. I am glad to 
see that you are amusing yourself in Paris. The 
King of Bavaria and his family and the Princess 
Elisa are also here. After December 2, which I 
shall spend here, I shall be on my way back, and glad 
to see you. Good by, my dear." " Udine, December 
11, 1807. I have your letter of the 3d, and I see you 
are much pleased with the Jardin des Plantes. I am 
at the furthest limit of my journey; it is possible 
that I shall be soon in Paris where I shall be glad to 
see you again. The weather has not been very cold 
here, but very wet. I have taken advantage of the 
last fine weather of the season, for I suppose that at 
Christmas the winter will be here. Good by, my 
dear. Ever Yours." 

During the Emperor's absence the triumphal return 
of the Guard brought a slight diversion to the Em- 
press's anxiety and distress of mind. Though unhappy 
as a wife, she was at least happy as a Frenchwoman. 
She, alas ! had a presentiment of divorce, but not of 
the invasion and dismemberment of France. At noon, 
November 25, the twelve thousand old soldiers of the 
Guard, bronzed, covered with glorious wounds, some 
already gray, made their solemn entry into Paris. 
An arch of triumph, broader and higher than the 
Porte Saint Martin, had been built at the gate of 
La Villette. The Prefect of the Seine and the muni- 
cipal authorities there awaited the veterans 



316 COUBT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

The prefect welcomed the brave soldiers : " Heroes 
of Jena, of Eylau, of Friedland," he said, '' conquerors 
of peace, immortal thanks are due you, for the coun- 
try you have conquered ! Your own country will 
ever remember your triumphs ; your names will be 
handed down to the remotest posterity on bronze and 
marble, and the story of your exploits, firing the 
courage of our latest descendants, will be recalled, 
and you, by the example you have set, will still pro- 
tect this vast Empire which you have so gloriously 
defended with your valor. . . . Hail ! war-like eagles, 
symbols of the power of our magnanimous Emperor ; 
carry over all the earth, with his great name, the 
glory of the French name, and may the crowns with 
which the city of Paris has been allowed to decorate 
you be everywhere a proof at once august and for- 
midable of the union of monarch, people, and army! " 

Marshal Bessieres, who was in command, replied : 
" The most perfect harmony will always exist between 
the populace of this great city and the soldiers of the 
Imperial guard, and if their eagles should march 
again, recalling their oath to defend them to the 
death, they would remember that the wreaths adorn- 
ing them redouble the obligation." After these two 
speeches the standard bearer left the ranks and bent 
down the flags on which the magistrates placed golden 
crowns bearing this inscription : " The city of Paris 
to the Grand Army." Then the troops marched past 
in the following order : the fusiliers, the riflemen, and 
grenadiers, the light cavalry, the Mamelukes, dra- 



THE END OF THE YEAU 1S07. 317 

goons, the horse grenadiers, and the picked body of 
gens des amies. While they passed beneath the arch 
of triumph, a large band and chorus performed a can- 
tata, with words by Arnault and music by Mehul. 
Passing through the dense crowds that lined the way, 
the guard came to the Tuileries, passing beneath the 
arch of the Carrousel, where the eagles were set down. 
Then it entered the palace garden, leaving its arms 
there, and proceeded to the Champs Elysees, where a 
banquet for twelve thousand men was laid. The 
tables were arranged under tents on each side of the 
Champs Elysees, along their whole extent, from the 
Place de la Concorde to the gate de TEtoile. The tent 
of the staff was in the middle, half-way up. Marshal 
Bessieres proposed a toast to the city of Paris, and the 
Prefect of the Seine one to the Emperor and King, 
and another to the Grand Army. 

The next day there were three performances in 
every theatre. The pit, the orchestra, and principal 
rows of boxes and galleries were reserved for the 
Imperial Guard. The opera gave The Triumph of 
Trajan. The Fran9ais gave G-aston and Bayard. 
" That historical play," said the Moniteur^ " which 
presents so noble and true a picture of French honor, 
of warlike victories, of chivalric enthusiasm, — never 
did this tragedy have spectators better fitted to appre- 
ciate it." In the minor theatres various plays on the 
events of the day were given. The performance at 
the opera was magnificent ; the Moyiiteur described it 
with its usual lyrical enthusiasm : '' This picked band 



318 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

of braves, who, in their swift conquests, in their dis- 
tant marches, have seen such diverse climates, visited 
so many shores, and in so few months have seen the 
springs and the mouths of so many rivers, know also 
the banks of the Tiber ; hence in the scenery they at 
once recognized Rome ; in the triumphal march, in 
the eager throng, in the vast populace, bursting 
through the ranks of the Roman soldiers, and flinging 
themselves beneath the hoofs of their horses, they saw 
the touching picture of the reception they had met 
the day before. Their emotion baffles description. 
The Imperial Guard gazing at Trajan's triumph was 
itself an admirable spectacle." The opera was but 
a series of ingenious allusions to Napoleon's glory. 
Trajan was represented as burning, with his own 
hand, papers containing the secret of a conspiracy, 
recalling Napoleon's throwing into the fire the letters 
by which he could have ruined M. Hatzfeld; and 
when the Roman Emperor appeared in his chariot, 
drawn by four white horses, it was not Trajan who 
was applauded, but Napoleon. 

December 14, at the Military School, Marshal Bes- 
sieres, to celebrate the victories of the Grand Army, 
and to thank the city of Paris for its reception of the 
Imperial Guard, gave a grand entertainment which 
the Empress honored with her presence. The Inva- 
lides was brilliantly illuminated and connected with 
the Military School by a long row of lights. In the 
middle of the Champ de Mars was a vast hemisphere, 
on which was a pedestal holding a colossal statue of 



THE END OF THE YEAH 1807. 819 

the Emperor, surrounded by allegoric figures. The 
trophies set aside for each one of the Grand Army 
were marked with the corps number. The Imperial 
Guard was under arms, and formed an interesting 
part of the spectators, and of the spectacle as well. 
Bengal fires lit up the warlike scene. The heights 
across the Seine were also ablaze with lights. The 
Empress arrived at the Military School at about 
eight in the evening. The entertainment began with 
a ballet performed by dancers from the opera. Then 
there were fireworks. The Champ de Mars was one 
sea of flame, and the Imperial Guard fired blank 
cartridges for half an hour. Then there was a grand 
ball with a fine supper ; after which the dances con- 
tinued till morning. 

This worldly and military entertainment, at which 
the Empress queen appeared in all her glory, may 
be regarded as the crowning point of her splendors. 
And here, at the end of 1807, we close this study. 
We have left to narrate in a final volume only the 
last seven years of Josepliine's life. We have already 
recounted nearly the whole career of this attractive 
woman, of this justly famous sovereign. We have 
descibed her infancy in Martinique, in her modest, 
patriarchal home, where she was born, June 23, 1763. 
We have admired her as a young girl, loving fl.owers, 
music, and nature, beneath the clear sky of the An- 
tilles, amid banana and orange trees, tropical flowers, 
and birds of paradise, where the fortune-telling negress 
said to her : " You will be a queen." We have seen 



320 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

lier in France, marrying, December 13, 1779, the 
young and brilliant Viscount Alexandre de Beauhar- 
nais, by whom she had one son, the future Viceroy 
of Italy, and one daughter, the future Queen of Hol- 
land. We have seen her going through that period 
of illusions, so well called the Golden Age of the 
Revolution, receiving in her drawing-room in the rue 
de rUniversite the flower of the liberal nobility and 
leaders of the Constituent Assembly, then suddenly 
passing from the Golden to the Iron Age, shuddering 
at the dangers to which war, and above all the Terror 
exposed her husband, the general in chief of the 
Army of the Rhine, the leader of the democracy, 
rewarded for his patriotism and his devotion to the 
Republic by the scaffold. She herself, during her 
husband's captivity, was imprisoned in the Carmes 
April, 1794 ; for one hundred and eight days of inex- 
pressible anguish and torment, she occupied in this 
dungeon the Room of the Swords as it was called, 
because the walls still bore traces of the three swords 
which the men of September had leaned against them 
after the massacre of the one hundred and twenty 
priests who were in the prison. Beauharnais, the man 
of the old regime, who had embraced the new ideas 
with so much ardor, this grand lord who got himself 
treated like a sans-culotte, was guillotined four days 
before Robespierre, whose death would have saved 
him. His young widow left prison, reduced to ex- 
treme want, and took refuge with her father-in-law, 
at Fontainebleau ; then she made her appearance in 



THE END OF THE YEAR 1807. 321 

the motley society which first showed itself in 
the drawing-room of Madame Tallien, then at the 
Luxembourg under Barras. Rivalling Madame Tal- 
lien and Madame Recamier in popularity, she smiled 
through her tears, like Andromache in Homer. Her 
means becoming greater, thanks to the support of 
men in authority, she bought in the rue Chantereine, 
afterwards rue de la Victoire, a little house belonging 
to Talma, the tragedian. There she received with 
her customary courtesy the few survivors of French 
aristocracy who said behind well-closed doors : " Let 
us talk about the old court; let us take a turn at 
Versailles." 

Bonaparte, commander of the Army of the Interior, 
after the 13th Yendemiaire, when he saved the ex- 
piring Convention, had just ord-ered the disarmament 
of the sections and the delivery of all arms found in 
private houses, Avhen a boy of fourteen called upon 
him to ask to have back the sword of his father, who 
had commanded the armies of the Republic. This 
boy was Eugene de Beauharnais, afterwards Viceroy 
of Ital3\ Bonaparte, touched by this action, received 
him graciously. The next day Madame de Beauhar- 
nais called upon him to thank him. He was much 
struck by her charms and proposed to her; she ac- 
cepted him and they were married March 9, 1796. 
The Viscountess of Beauharnais became Citizeness 
Bonaparte. No sooner married, than the young hus- 
band, who was only twenty-six, tore himself from her 
arms and started for the army of Italy. Then Napo- 



822 COUET OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

leon's love for Josepliine was much greater than hers 
for him. It was he who was jealous, he who wrote 
burning letters; he it was who was all enthusiasm, 
ardor, and ablaze with passion. It was only with 
reluctance that Josephine decided to leave Paris, 
where she was happy, but in Italy she found a 
real royalty. At Milan she took possession of the 
Serbelloni Palace, where she did the honors most 
admirably and received the homage of the proud 
aristocracy of Milan. She followed her husband to 
the war, for he could not bear to be separated from 
her, and one day when, beset with dangers, she was 
crying, he exclaimed : " Wurmser shall pay dearly 
for the tears he causes you." After Arcole, Madame 
Bonaparte resembled a sovereign. She singularly 
aided her husband to play the double part which was 
soon to carry him to the highest rank. When it 
was a question of repelling royalism, the young con- 
queror relied on men like Augereau; when it was 
necessary to attract men of the old regime, Josephine 
was the bond of union between him and the French 
or Italian aristocracy. On her return to Paris, June 
2, 1798, she shared her husband's glories. The little 
house in the rue Chantereine became more famous 
than the grandest palaces. 

Bonaparte left for Egypt, embarking at Toulon, 
May 19, 1798, after taking tender leave of Josephine. 
During her husband's absence, she bought the estate 
of Malmaison, an unknown spot which soon became 
famous. She skilfully defended Bonaparte's inter- 



THE END OF THE YEAR 1S07. 323 

ests with the Directory, and in her drawing-room 
met celebrities of every kind. But malicious persons 
soon sent to Egypt hostile rumors, and her impetuous 
husband, wild with jealous wrath, spoke of nothing 
but separation and divorce. He reached Paris unex- 
pectedly, October 1-6, 1799, and not finding his wife 
there, started off to meet her on a different road 
from hers, wild with jealousy. His brothers, Joseph- 
ine's enemies, deceived him, and at first he refused 
to see her again ; but, softened by the supplications 
of Eugene and Hortense de Beauharnais, he pardoned 
his wife and opened his door to her; she defended 
herself, and he let himself be convinced, so that, 
instead of a divorce, there was a complete reconcilia- 
tion. Josephine was of use to her husband in the 
preparations for the 18th Brumaire ; she helped him 
to lull the vigilance of the Republicans and to rise 
to the highest rank. 

Citizeness Bonaparte had become the wife of the 
First Consul. Like the ladies of the old regime, she 
was addressed as Madame until she should be called 
Empress, or Your Majesty. She was at the head of 
the Consular Court, rich in youth, glory, and hope. 
At the Tuileries she took possession of the apart- 
ments of Marie Antoinette. At Malmaison she en- 
joyed the pleasures of the country. The hero of 
Marengo looked upon her as his good angel, his good 
genius. Their happiness was interrupted by the 
infernal machine, but this gloomy incident was soon 
forgotten. Under Josephine's guidance Parisian 



324 COUBT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 

society soon resumed its former brilliancy. Mon- 
archical customs reappeared. The Concordat effected 
a reconciliation of the church with the government, 
and the wife of the First Consul, surrounded by a 
real court, heard a Te Deum in the rood-loft of Notre 
Dame. At heart she was a Royalist by her memories 
and her feelings, although she was made by fate an 
Empress. The crown, so far from tempting her, 
filled her with fear. She yearned to descend as her 
husband yearned to rise. The proclamation of the 
Consulate for life, the prelude of the Empire, filled 
her with gloom and apprehension. Neither the pomp 
of Saint Cloud, nor the triumphal trip in Belgium, 
robbed her of her wise and modest ideas. She much 
preferred Malmaison to any splendid palace, and 
looked back with regret at the time when she was 
simply Citizeness Bonaparte. Grandeur, so far from 
turning her head, only made her less ambitious. She 
gave her husband excellent advice, which, unfortu- 
nately, he did not follow. Had he listened to her, 
he would not have had the Duke of Enghien killed, 
he would have been modest in good fortune, and 
would have remained the first citizen of a great 
Republic. 

Crowned at Notre Dame by the hands of Napo- 
leon, Josephine played a sovereign's part with as 
much ease as if she had been born on the sfeps of the 
throne. The greatest names of the old regime fig- 
ured in her house. She adorned magnificent festivi- 
ties by her presence. In Italy, whither she accompa- 



fHE END OF THE YEAR 1S07. 325 

nied her husband, she received as Queen the same 
homage she had received as Empress. Yet, amid all 
this splendor, she was not happy. The terrible wars 
in which Napoleon engaged filled her with anxiety. 
At Strassburg, during the Austerlitz campaign, at 
Mayence during that of Jena and that of Poland, 
she was a victim of the greatest distress of mind and 
nervous terror. Then, too, her husband's infidelities 
filled her with despair. Towards the end of 1807 
the spectre of divorce arose before her. The loss of 
a crown would be a trifling matter, but the sight of 
another woman reigning as lawful wife over Napo- 
leon's heart was a thought to which she could not 
reconcile herself. From that moment she knew no 
peace or happiness. She was like a convicted crimi- 
nal awaiting sentence at any moment, and she had to 
hide her terrible grief from every one. She always 
imagined that in the homage paid her by force of 
habit, there was something false and ironical. She 
thought of herself only as disgraced, betrayed, repu- 
diated. All that was left of her crown was its mark 
on her brow. Few peasant women in their huts were 
ever as thoroughly unhappy as was this sovereign in 
her palace. 

We have seen Josephine in her sj^ringtime, in her 
summer; it remains for us to describe only the 
autumn of this wonderful and melancholy career. 
This last study will be profoundly sad. " In the sea- 
son which despoils nature," said Madame Swetchine, 
"there is no breeze, no puff of air so light that it 



326 COURT OF THE EMPBESS JOSEPHINE. 

fails to detach the leaf from the tree that bore it. In 
the autumn of the heart there is no movement that 
does not carry away a happiness or a hope." The 
great afflictions of Josephine's later years were the 
divorce, the invasion, and the long agony. Driven 
from the Tuileries forever, she took refuge at Mal- 
maison one rainy, cold, December night, recalling, 
doubtless, the starlit evenings when the conqueror 
of Italy sought calm and happiness in that favorite 
spot. And after draining the cup of bitterness, the 
deserted wife exclaimed: "It sometimes seems to 
me as if I were dead and there was nothing left of 
me except a sort of vague power of feeling that I no 
longer exist." She could truly say with Queen Mar- 
garet of Navarre: "I have borne more than my 
share of the weariness which is the common lot of 
man." A still harder trial awaited her. Napoleon 
was unhappy, and she was forbidden to comfort him I 
He was exiled, and she was forbidden to follow him ! 
The Empire she had seen so magnificent she was to 
see conquered, invaded, dismembered. No one was 
to mourn the woes of her country more than she. 
She was to die of grief, and when. May 29, 1814, she 
had breathed her last after uttering in her death 
agony these three words which sum up the anguish 
of her soul : " Napoleon ! Elba ! Marie Louise ! " 
Mademoiselle Avrillon, the First Lady of her Bed- 
chamber, was to say, "I have seen the Empress 
Josephine's sleeplessness and her terrible dreams. I 
have known her to pass whole days buried in the 



f 



THE END OF THE YEAR 1S07. 327 

gloomiest thought. I know what I have seen and 
heard, and I am sure that grief killed her!" Was 
there ever a life of greater vicissitudes? It was a 
career full of smiles and tears, presenting every con- 
trast of light and shade, of joy and grief, reproduc- 
ing all the splendor and all the misery that can be 
crowded into human existence ! It was a career, as 
fascinating as it was strange, which could only have 
l)een seen in those pathetic and disturbed epochs, when 
one surprise follows another, and the actors are per- 
haps even more astonished than the spectators at the 
shifting scenes and the incidents of the drama, in 
which events always take an unexpected turn, when 
men and things suffer shocks unknown to previous 
generations, and when history reads like the wildest 
romance. 



INDEX. 



Abrantes, Duchess of, describes the 
fear caused by Napoleon, 85 ; de- 
scribes Josephine's charms, 106. 

Alexander, meeting of, with Napo- 
leon on the Niemeu, 274. 

Almoner, Grand, the functions of, 
90 ; of the Empress, 102. 

Augusta, Princess of Bavaria, her 
marriage with Eugene de Beau- 
harnais, 199 ; her appearance and 
character, 191. 

Aristocracy, Napoleon's regard for 
the, 97. 

Austerlitz, a consolidation of the 
empire, 153 ; the victory of, 167 ; 
the losses of the Russians at, 169. 

Bacciocchi, Felix, made Prince of 
Lucca, 147. 

Baden, the Elector of, his devotion 
to Napoleon, 176. 

Baden, Prince of, interview of, with 
Napoleon, 25; project of his mar- 
riage with Stephanie de Beauhar- 
nais, 200 et seq. ; his mother's 
opposition, 201; his marriage, 
206. 

Baptism of Hortense's second son 
by the Pope, 121. 

Bavaria, Elector of, his letter to 
Talleyrand, 174. 

Beauharnais, Eugene de, appointed 
Napoleon's viceroy in Italy, 146; 
the rumor of his marriage with 
the Princess Augusta of Bavaria,, 
180; summoned to Munich by 
Napoleon, 186; his appearance 
and character, 189; marries Au- 
gusta of Bavaria, 190; becomes 



Napoleon Eugene of France, 190; 
adopted by Napoleon and de- 
clared heir to the crown of Italy, 
314; his first interview with Na- 
poleon described, 34. 

Beauharnais, Hortense de, her 
beauty, 77. See Madame Louis 
Bonaparte. 

Beauharnais, Stephanie de, her ori- 
gin and character, 203 ; her mar- 
riage to the Prince of Baden, 206. 

Berlin, Napoleon's entry into, 229. 

Bessieres, Marshal, grand entertain- 
ment of, at the Invalides, 318. 

Bonaparte family, the, their pride 
and irritability, 5. 

Bonaparte, Madame Letitia, her 
sagacity, 6 ; not present at Napo- 
leon's coronation, 34 ; at Fontaine- 
bleau, 291. 

Bonaparte, Elisa, *' the Semiramis 
of Lucca," 148. 

Bonaparte, Jerome, his marriage to 
Miss Paterson, 128, 282; the mar- 
riage annulled at Napoleon's 
order, 129 et seq., 283; obeys 
Napoleon's command and is rec- 
onciled with him, 132; his mar- 
riage with Catherine of Wiirtem- 
berg, 282 et seq., 285; made King 
of Westphalia by the treaty of 
Tilsitt, 275, 285. 

Bonaparte, Joseph, anxious that 
Napoleon should marry a foreign 
princess, 31 ; his quarrel with 
Napoleon as to the dignities of 
the Bonapartes, 32. 

Bonaparte, Louis, his character and 
his relations with his wife, 211 et 

329 



330 



INDEX. 



seq. ; made King of Holland, 214 ; 
his address to Napoleon accept- 
ing the royalty, 217; installed at 
the Hague, 219; his jealousy and 
fault-finding, 260. 

Bonaparte, Madame Louis, her char- 
acter, 211 ; her sadness at leaving 
France, 218 ; her unhappiness as 
Queen, 220, 260 ; loses her oldest 
son, 264; her grief, 265; goes to 
Paris, 269 ; her continued infelic- 
ity and ill health, 289, 298. 

Bonaparte, Lucien, interview of, 
with Napoleon at Mantua, 309 ; 
refuses to divorce his wife, 313. 

Brienne, Madame de, 125. 

Calendar, Gregorian, substituted for 
that of the Kepublic, Jan. 1, 1806, 
194. 

Campan, Madame, her pupils, 77; 
describes Stephanie de Beauhar- 
nais's character, 204. 

Canisy, Madame de, her beauty, 
77. 

Caprara, Cardinal, receives the 
cross of the Legion of Honor, 17, 
136. 

Caroline, Queen of Bavaria, objects 
to the marriage of the Princess 
Augusta to Eugene de Beauhar- 
nais, 186. 

Catherine of Wiirtemberg, her per- 
son and character, 285; married 
to Jerome Bonaparte, 286 et seq. 

Ceremonies, Grand Master of, his 
duties, 96. 

Chamberlain, Grand, duties of, 95 ; 
the first, of Josephine, General 
Nansouty, 104. 

Constant, Napoleon's valet, quoted, 
5; relates the particulars of Na- 
poleon's passion for the noble 
Polish lady, 248. 

Coronation, the rehearsals for, 41 ; 
preparations for, at Notre Dame, 
44; the Imperial procession of, 
54; ceremony of, 56 et seq. ; fes- 
tivities following, 67, 70. 



Coronation jewels, description of, 

40. 
Coronation robes of Napoleon and 

Josephine, 50, 54. 
Court of Napoleon, sumptuousness 

of, 2; minute etiquette of, 8; 

code of etiquette at, 88 et seq. ; 

oificers of, 90 ; at Fontainebleau, 

splendor of, 290; contrasted with 

that of Napoleon IH., 295. 

David, his picture of Napoleon's 

coronation, 34, 65. 
Davout, Marshal, enthusiasm of, 

230. 
Duchatel, Madame, beauty of, 104. 

Equerry, Grand, functions of, 92. 
Etiquette at Napoleon's court, 8, 

88 et seq. 
Eylau, the battle of, 250. 

Fontainebleau prepared for the re- 
ception of Pius YIL, 34; descrip- 
tion of, 37. 

Fouche addresses Josephine on the 
subject of a divorce, 300, 301. 

Francis H. assumes the Imperial 
title, 21; compelled to leave Vi- 
enna, 183. 

Frederick the Great, Napoleon's 
visit to his tomb, 228 ; ceremony 
of carrying his sword to the 
Tuileries, 266. 

Friedland, the victory of, 272. 

Gazani, Madame, 105. 
Genoa made a French department, 
148; beautiful festival at, 149. 

Hatzfeld, Prince von, saved by 
Napoleon's clemency, 232, 321. 

Honor, maid of, to the Empress, 
102, 103. 

Hortense, see Madame Louis Bona- 
parte. 

Imperial Guard, the triumphal re- 
turn of, 315; present at a grand 
entertainment, 319. 



INDEX. 



331 



Imperial robes, Napoleon's, 50, 54. 
Isabey designs tbe ceremonial of 
the coronation, 41. 

Jena, the victory of, 226. 

Josephine, her court and attend- 
ants, 11; admits to General de 
Segur her repugnance at first to 
ally herself with Bonaparte, 14; 
the life of the Duke of Polignac 
saved at her request, 16 ; impres- 
sion created by her beauty, 18; 
travels to Mayence, 22 ; her voy- 
age on the Rhine, 23 ; her solici- 
tude with regard to the corona- 
tion, 31 ; hated by the Bonapartes, 
31 ; prevails upon the Pope to in- 
sist on a religious marriage, 39 ; 
her coronation jewels, 40 ; inter- 
cedes for Lucien Bonaparte, 46; 
united to Napoleon by Cardinal 
Fesch before the coronation, 48 ; 
costume of, for the coronation, 
50; crowned by Napoleon, 59; 
gold toilet service presented to, 
by the city of Paris, 79 ; her table 
at the Tuileries, 84 ; her house- 
hold described, 102; apartment 
of, 105; her charms and fine 
qualities, 106; her extravagance 
and generosity, 108; made un- 
happy by Napoleon's gallantries, 
110; shallowness of her charac- 
ter, 113 ; her veneration for Pius 
VII., 120; holds a reception at 
Lyons, 126 ; witnesses the corona- 
tion at Milan, 138 et seq. ; mater- 
nal love her strongest feeling, 
150; accompanies Napoleon to 
Strassburg, 154 ; her unhappiness 
in war-time, 162; her trip through 
Germany a series of ovations, 175 ; 
enters Carlsruhe, 177; her prog- 
ress to Munich, 178 et seq.; ailing 
at Munich, 183; her unhappiness 
at parting with her daughter, 
221; letters of, to her, 221 et seq. ,• 
leaves Saint Cloud with Napoleon 
for Mayence, 223; tortured by 



jealousy and deferred hope, 234; 
compelled to return to Paris, 242 ; 
beloved in France, 243 ; her recep- 
tion by the great bodies of the 
State, 244 ; letters of, to Hortense 
after the death of her son, 271, 
277; her secret sorrow, 298; ap- 
proached by Fouche on the sub- 
ject of a divorce, 300; present at 
an entertainment given by Mar- 
shal Bessieres, 319; her career 
reviewed, 319 ; her marriage with 
Napoleon, 321; her life there- 
after, 320 et seq. 

Josephine Maximilienne Augusta, 
Eugene's daughter, birth of, 
257. 

Junot meets Jerome Bonaparte in 
Spain, 130. 

La Bruyere quoted, 1. 

Ladies of the Palace, the, 102. 

Lannes, Madame, 103. 

La Pagerie, Madame Tascher de, 
death of, 307. 

La Rochefoucauld, Madame de, the 
Empress's maid of honor, 102. 

Lavalette, Josephine's lady of the 
bedchamber, 102. 

Leroy makes the coronation robes, 
40. 

Lome'nie, Madame de, 125. 

Louise, Queen of Prussia, her in- 
trepidity, 221 ; her interview with 
Napoleon, 276. 

Mahib Effendi, Ambassador of the 
Sultan, presented to Napoleon, 
215. 

Marshal, Grand, of the Palace, func- 
tions of, 90. 

Marshals of the Empire, their grand 
entertainment to Napoleon, 82. 

Master of the Wardrobe, duties of, 
95. 

Maximilian Joseph, Elector of 
Bavaria, 181 ; his history and 
amiable character, 181. 

Melito, Miot de, quoted, 13. 



332 



INDEX. 



Metternich, Prince, on Napoleon's 
desire to bring the aristocrats 
to his side, 15 ; communicates to 
von Stadion the cause of Joseph- 
ine's sorrow, 298. 

Milan, celebration of Napoleon's 
coronation as King of Italy in, 
138 et seq. 

Moreau, interest in his trial, 15. 

Murat, Madame, prevails on Napo- 
leon to make her a princess, 11 ; 
intercedes in favor of the Mar- 
quis de Riviere, 16. 

Murat, Marshal, gives a breakfast 
to the Princes of Germany before 
the coronation, 49. 

Napoleon adopts the formalities of 
an Imperial court, 9; surprised 
at the leniency of Moreau' s sen- 
tence, 15; gives the oath of the 
Legion of Honor at the Invalides, 
17; condemned to uninterrupted 
success, 18; makes a journey to 
the tomb of Charlemagne, 20; 
surrounded by a court of German 
Princes, 25; his art of keeping 
himself before the public, 27; 
lauded by the clergy, 30; an- 
nounces that Josephine is to be 
crowned, 31; his quarrel and 
reconciliation with Joseph Bona- 
parte, 33; meets Pius VII. and 
settles the question of etiquette, 
35; coronation jewels, 40; de- 
clines to receive the communion 
before the coronation, 42; gifts 
of, to Notre Dame for the coro- 
nation, 46; the Imperial robes, 
50; his progress to the Cathedral, 
54; crowns himself and Joseph- 
ine, 59; takes the political 
oath, 62; applauds David's paint- 
ing of the coronation, 65 ; adula- 
tion of, 68; presents the eagles 
to the army, 70, 73; attends a 
state dinner at the Tuileries, 74; 
desires to give the beginning of 
his reign an air of splendor, 76 ; 



magnificent entertainment to, at 
the Hotel de Ville, 79; table- 
service presented to, by the city of 
Paris, 80 ; blasphemous inscription 
to, 81 ; statue to, raised by the Leg- 
islative Body, 81 ; entertainment 
to, by the Marshals, 82 ; awe of, 
85 ; attaches great importance to 
etiquette, 87 ; functionaries of his 
household, 90 et seq. ; his aides- 
de-camp, 96 ; his court more aris- 
tocratic than that of Louis XVIIL, 
97; ceremony of his table, 98; 
the Imperial apartments, 99; im- 
provement in his health and ap- 
pearance, 111 ; a foe to outward 
immorality. 111; but given to 
amours, 112; his remarks on 
woman's position, 112; his regard 
for Pius VII., 119; on his way to 
Milan to be crowned King of Ita- 
ly, 124; revisits the scenes of his 
youth, 125 ; and the battle-field of 
Marengo, 128; is reconciled with 
Jerome Bonaparte, 128; declares 
to Miot de Melito his intention to 
divide Europe among his lieuten- 
ants, 132; his letter to Jerome, 
133; more Italian than French, 
135; had the head of a Caesar, 
135; visits Milan cathedral with 
Josephine, 136; the coronation at 
Milan, 138 et seq.; his gaiety 
after the ceremony, 141 ; hears of 
the coalition against him and re- 
turns to Paris, 151; leaves to 
take command of his army, 154 ; 
his letters to Josephine, 154 et 
seq., 158, 162; his military suc- 
cesses, 156; the capitulation of 
Ulm, 159; his delight in war, 160; 
at Vienna, 163; his peril during 
a reconnoissance, 165 ; Austerlitz 
his greatest triumph, 167; letter 
of, to Josephine after Austerlitz, 
168; letters of, to Josephine at 
Munich, 183; conditions imposed 
by, at Pressburg, 184; enters 
Munich, 184; letters summoning 



INDEX. 



333 



Prince Eugene to Munich, 186; 
overcomes the Queen of Bavaria's 
objections to the marriage of her 
daughter to Prince Eugene, 187; 
letter of to the Princess Augusta, 
191; returns to France, 192; cele- 
bration on his return to Paris, 
194; eulogies of his bishops, 196; 
adopts Stephanie Beauharnais, 
205; makes his family kings and 
princes, 210 ; makes Louis Bona- 
parte King of Holland against his 
will, 214 ; his address to the new 
king, 218 ; leaves France for his 
armies, 223 ; letters of, to Joseph- 
ine, 224; his habits on a cam- 
paign, 225; his victory at Jena, 
226 ; visits the tomb of Frederick 
the Great, 228; enters Berlin, 229; 
his lack of generosity toward 
Queen Louise, 221; letters of, to 
Josephine, 231 et seq. ; his letter 
to the King of Prussia, 232; at 
Posen, 234; hardships of the 
campaign, 238; his infatuation 
for a noble Polish lady, 248 ; de- 
scribes the battle of Eylau to 
Josephine, 250; at Osterode, 254; 
his letters to Josephine, 256 et 
seq.; spends three weeks at the 
castle of Frankenstein with Ma- 
dame v., 258; letter of, to Louis 
Bonaparte, 261; his affection for 
the oldest son of Louis, 262 ; let- 
ter of, to Hortense, 270; an- 
nounces to Josephine the victory 
of Friedland, 273; his meeting 
with the Emperor of Russia on 
the Niemen, 274; his interview 
with Queen Louise, 276; signs 
the peace of Tilsitt, 277 ; returns 
to Saint Cloud, 278; addresses of 
the great bodies of the State to 
him, 279; Charlemagne out- 
stripped, 281 ; infatuated by his 
fortune, 281; quarrels with the 
Pope regarding Jerome's divorce, 
284; splendor of the court at 
Fontainebleau, 291 ; awe inspired 



by him, 294; his court contrasted 
with that of Napoleon IIL, 295; 
denies having ordered Fouche to 
address Josephine on the subject 
of a divorce, 302; his letter to 
Fouche, 304; leaves for Italy, 
308; anxious to marry Lucien 
with Marie Louise of Spain, 309; 
has a secret interview with him 
and tries to make him divorce 
his wife, 310; adopts Prince 
Eugene as his son and makes 
him heir to the crown of Italy, 
314; letter of, to Josephine, 315; 
his first meeting with Josephine 
recalled, 320. 

Napoleon, Charles, oldest son of 
Louis Bonaparte, Napoleon's af- 
fection for, 262; his death, 264. 

Napoleon III., court of, contrasted 
with that of Napoleon L, 295. 

Ney, Madame, 103. 

Niemen, meeting of the emperors 
on a raft in the, 274. 

Notre Dame prepared for the coro- 
nation, 44. 

Otto, Count, letter of, to Talleyrand 
on the rumor of Eugene's mar- 
riage, 180, 191. 

Pages of the Imperial court, duties 
of, 93. 

Paris, festivities in, following the 
coronation, 67; illumination of, 
69. 

Paterson, Miss Elisabeth, the wife 
of Jerome Bonaparte, 128 et seq., 
283. 

Pius VII., journeys to Paris to be 
present at the coronation, 34 ; re- 
ception of, at Fontainebleau, 36 ; 
goes to the Tuileries, 39 ; stipu- 
lates that the Emperor is to re- 
ceive the crown from him, 43; 
his progress to Notre Dame, 51; 
performs the coronation cere- 
mony, 57 et seq.; at the Tuile- 
ries, 115; left his abdication in 



334 



INDEX. 



Rome, 116 ; beloved by the Pari- 
sians, 118 ; his portrait painted by- 
David, 120; baptizes Louis Bona- 
parte's second son, 121; leaves 
Paris dissatisfied with his jour- 
ney, 122 ; his quarrel with Napo- 
leon regarding Jerome's divorce, 
284. 

Plebiscite, the result of, announced 
to Napoleon by the Senate, 47. 

Polignac, the Duke of, his life saved 
at Josephine's intercession, 16. 

Pressburg, peace signed at, 184. 

Remusat, Madame de, on Joseph- 
ine's court, 2 ; describes the first 
Imperial dinner, 7; remark of, 
concerning the flattery of Napo- 
leon, 71 ; on the life of a courtier, 
100; acknowledges Josephine's 
tact, 107; says of Napoleon that 
he was like the Grand Turk in 
his harem. 111; on Napoleon's 
successes and the excitement in 
Paris, 157, 160,170; quoted, 232. 

Republic, the, forgotten, 16. 

Riviere, Marquis de, his sentence 
modified at Madame Murat's re- 
quest, 16. 

Rohan, Ferdinand de. First Al- 
moner of the Empress, 101. 



Rolandsworth, the convent 
benefited by Napoleon, 24. 



of, 



Saint Cloud, court at, 4. 

Saint-Hilaire, Madame, 105. 

Saint Germain, the Faubourg, at 
first scornful of the Imperial 
court, 12. 

Segur, General de, on the indis- 
position of the French nobles to 
appear at court, 13; his account 
of Pius VII. while in Paris, 117 ; 
his anecdote of Napoleon's stay 
in Mayence, 26; his account of 
the eve of Austerlitz, 165, 167. 

Stael, Madame de, on the etiquette 
of Napoleon's court, 10. 

Talleyrand, Grand Chamberlain, 
77 ; at Fontainebleau, 293. 

Thiard, M. de, counsels Napoleon 
to remain in Munich, 187. 

Tilsitt, peace of, 277. 

Ulm, the capitulation of, 158. 

Vaublanc, M. de, speech of, in praise 
of Napoleon, 82. 

Wiirtemberg, the King of, his 
physical appearance and mental 
character, 284. 



Typography by J. S. Gushing & Co., Boston, U.S.A. 
Presswork by Berwick & Smith, Boston, U.S.A. 



FAMOUS WOMEN OF THE 
FRENCH COURT. 



Charles Scribner's Sons, Publishers. 



WITHIN the past few years M. Imbert de Saint-Amand 
has written a series of volumes which have made him 
one of the most popular authors of France. Each has 
for its nucleus some portion of the life of one of the 
eminent women who have presided over or figured at the 
French court, either at Versailles or the Tuileries. But 
though thus largely biographical and possessing the interest 
inseparable from personality, the volumes are equally pic- 
tures of the times they describe. He is himself saturated 
with the literature and history of the period, and what 
mainly distinguishes his books is the fact that they are in 
considerable part made up of contemporary letters and 
memoirs, so that the reader hears the characters themselves 
speak, and is brought into the closest imaginary contact 
with them. Moreover, the complexion of the mosaic thus 
cleverly mortised is familiar rather than heroic. The his- 
torian is not above gossip in its good sense, and the 
way in which the life of the time and of its distinguished 
personages is depicted is extremely intimate as well as vivid 
and truthful. 

The six volumes rendered into particularly idiomatic 
EngUsh by Mr. Thomas Sergeant Perry, whose accomplish- 
ments as a translator are well known, relate to Marie 
Antoinette, Josephine, and Marie Louise. They give a vivid 
representation of the momentous times immediately before, 
during, and after the epoch of the Revolution. Probably 



no times in any country were ever so picturesque, so 
crowded with events, and so peopled with striking char- 
acters. The characteristics of the ancient regime, the 
occupations of the courtiers at Versailles, and other inci- 
dents of the old order of things tottering to its fall, are 
grouped effectively around the sympathetic figure of Louis 
Sixteenth's queen. In the first two books in which she 
figures Josephine is taken as the centre of the new society 
that issued from the disorganization wrought by the Revo- 
lution, and the third describes the beginning of the Imperial 
epoch. In " The Happy Days of the Empress Marie 
Louise," we are led behind the scenes and shown the 
domestic hfe as well as the splendid court pomp of the 
world's Conqueror at the acme of his career — a most 
dramatic contrast with the picture drawn in " Marie Louise 
and the Decadence of the Empire." 



FAMOUS WOMEN OF THE FRENCH COURT. 

By IMBERT DE SAINT-AMAND. 

Translated by Thomas Sergeant Perry. 

The Wife of the First Consul. 

The Happy Days of the Empress Marie Louise. 

Marie Antoinette and the End of the Old 

Regime. 
Citizeness Bonaparte. 

Marie Louise and the Decadence of the Empire. 
The Court of the Empress Josephine. 



Each with Portrait. 12mo. $1 .25 per volume. 



CRITICAL NOTICES. 



" These volumes give animated pictures, ronantic in coloring, intimate 
in detail, and entertaining from beginni7ig to end. To the student of history 
they furnish the more charming details of gossip and court life which he has 
not found in his musty tomes; while to the novice they must be the lode-stone 
leading to more minute research" — Boston Times. 

"The Wife of the First Consul." 

"A very readable and fascinating book, which by reason of its qualities 
as well as its entrancing theme, deserves to be widely x^d^dir — Boston 
Beacon. 

" A book which is certainly a notable contribution to literary and per- 
sonal history, and as interesting as a work of romance." — Chicago Inter- 
Ocean. 

" He writes con amore of the splendor and glitter of the First Empire. 
He brings before the reader a gay and changing series of social sketches, 
vivacious and animated on every page."— Christian Union. 

" Citizeness Bonaparte." 

" Readers of the author's preceding volumes will not need to be told 
that the present one is full of charm and interest, brilliant description, and 
strong and clear historical sketches." — New York Tribune. 

" Like the preceding volumes, it is gracefully written ... as a compila- 
tion it merits praise for its simplicity and directness." — New York Herald. 

" The story is brightly told, and the type and paper are superb." — 
The Congregationalist. 

" Mr. Thomas Sergeant Perry is to be congratulated upon the manner 
in which the translation has been executed, and the Scribners upon the 
typographical execution of the volumes." — Philadelphia Times. 

" Marie Antoinette and the End of the Old Regime." 

"The sketches, like the times to which they relate, are immensely dra- 
matic. M. Saint-Amand writes with a vivid pen. He has filled himself 
with the history and the life of the times, and possesses the art of making 
them live in his pages. His books are capital reading, and remain as 
vivacious as idiomatic, and as pointed in Mr. Perry's translation as in the 
original French." — The Independent. 



The First /American Edition 



MEMOIRS OF 

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE 

By LOUIS ANTOINE FAUVELET DE BOURRIENNE 

His Private Secretary 
With 34 Full-page Portraits and Other Illustrations 

Edited by Col. R. W. PHIPPS. New and Revised Edition 



The Set, 4 Vols., 12mo, Cloth, in a Box, $5.00 

Characteristic bindings in Half Morocco and Half Calf, specially designed 

for this work, can now be supplied 
The Set, 4 Vols., in a box, Half Morocco, gilt top, . . . $8.00 
Half Calf, " ... 10.00 



CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, Publishers 
NEW YORK 



FOR sixty years Bourrienne's "Memoirs of Napoleon" 
has been a standard authority to which every one 
has turned for a graphic, entertaining picture of 
the man as he appeared to his intimate friend and Secre- 
tary. Bourrienne, who had been the friend and com- 
panion of Napoleon^ at school, became his Secretary in 
1797 and remained in this confidential position till 1802. 
His " Memoirs " has heretofore been accessible only in 
the English editions. It is now proposed to publish 
immediately in a popular Library Edition, in four i2mo 
volumes, an exact reprint of the latest English edition. 
This American edition will contain the thirty-four por- 
traits and other illustrations of the original, together with 
all the other features that give distinction to the work — 
the chronology of Napoleon's life, the prefaces to the 



B o urriemnf: s ' ' iVa pole on. ' 



several editions, the author's introduction, and the addi- 
tional matter which supplements Bourrienne's work, an 
account of the important events of the Hundred Days, 
of Napoleon's surrender to the English, and of his resi- 
dence and death at St. Helena, with anecdotes and illus- 
trative extracts from contemporary Memoirs. The per- 
sonality of one of the greatest figures in history is placed 
before the reader with remarkable fidelity and dramatic 
power by one who was the Emperor's confidant and the 
sharer of his thoughts and fortunes. The picture of the 
man Napoleon is of fascinating interest. Besides this, 
the book is full of the most interesting anecdotes, bon 
mots, character sketches, dramatic incidents, and the 
gossip of court and camp at one of the most stirring 
epochs of history, taken from contemporary Memoirs and 
incorporated in the work by the editors of the different 
editions. 



List of Portraits, Etc, 



NAPOLEON I. 
LETITIA RAMOLINO 
THE EMPRESS JOSEPH- 
INE 
EUGENE BEAUHARNAIS 
GENERAL KLEBER 
MARSHAL LANNES 
TALLEYRAND 
GENERAL DUROC 
MURAT, KING OF NAPLES 
GENERAL DESAIX 
GENERAL MOREAU 

HORTENSE BEAUHAR- 
NAIS 

THE EMPRESS JOSEPH- 
INE 

NAPOLEON I. 



THE DUG D'ENGHIEN 

GENERAL PICHEGRU 

MARSHAL NEY 

CAULAINCOURT, DUKE 
OF VICENZA 

MARSHAL DAVOUST 

CHARGE OF THE CUIR- 
ASSIERS AT EYLAU 

GENERAL JUNOT 

MARSHAL SOULT 

THE EMPRESS MARIA 
LOUISA 

GENERAL LASALLE 

COLORED MAP SHOW- 
ING NAPOLEON'S DO- 
MINION 

THE EMPRESS MARIA 
LOUISA 



MARSHAL MASSENA 
MARSHAL MACDONALD 
FAC-SIMILE OFTHE EM- 
PEROR'S ABDICATION 
IN 1814 

NAPOLEON I. 

MARSHAL SOUCHET 

THE DUKE OF WELLING- 
TON 

PLANS OF BATTLE OF 

WATERLOO 
MARSHAL BLUCHER 

MARSHAL GOUVION ST. 
CYR 

MARSHAL NEY 

THE KING OF ROME 

GENERAL BESSIERES 



BOURRIENNE'S ''NAPOLEON. 



''If you want something to read, both interesting and 
amusing, get the M^moires de Bourrienne. These are the only 
authentic Memoirs of Napoleon which have yet appeared. The 
style is not brilliant, but that only makes them the more trust- 
worthy.'' — Prince Metternich. 

"The writer was a man of uncommon penetration, 
and he enjoyed opportunities for intimate knowledge of 
Napoleon's life and character such as no other person 
possessed ; and the liveliness of his style renders the 
Memoirs interesting reading from the first page to the 
last. The volumes are enriched with a larofe number of 
excellent portraits." — The Academy. 



&^ 



"It is a brilliant picture of Napoleon as he appeared 
in his daily life to one who held the unique position of 
friend, Minister and Secretary, depicting the personality 
of the Emperor with extraordinary vividness and truth- 
fulness. It is impossible not to recognize the great 
value of these Memoirs." — New York Times. 

"J/, de Bourrienne shows us the hero of Marengo and 
Austerlitz in his night-gown and slippers — with a trait de 
plume he, in a hundred instances, places the real man before 
us, with all of his personal habits and peculiarities of manner, 
temper and conversation'' — From the Preface. 



THE SET. 4 VOLS., 12M0, IN A BOX, $5.00. 



L&Je'26 



